57£ 

F679      THE  INFLUENCE  OF 
5  53  TER  SCOTT  ON  THE  NOVELS 
OF  THEODOR  FONTANE 


^B    bis    b^t 

LAMBEKl  akMOUR  SHEARS 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fn-filnunt  cf  '."  Reqid^'ements  for 

the  D    r:^     "  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  ifi  he  Faculty 

of  /  ophy,  Coh  -ihia  University 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
1922 


COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY   GERMANIC   STUDIES 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF 

WALTER  SCOTT  ON  THE  NOVELS 

OF  THEODOR  FONTANE 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
SALES  AGENTS 

NEW  YORK 

LEMCKE  &  BUECHNER 
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LONDON 

HUMPHREY  MILFORD 
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shanghai 

EDWARD  EVANS  &  SONS.  Ltd. 

30  North  Szechuen  Road 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF 

WALTER  SCOTT  ON  THE  NOVELS 

OF  THEODOR  FONTANE 


BY 

LAMBERT  ARMOUR  SHEARS 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements  for 

the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the  Faculty 

of  Philosophy,  Columbia  University 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
1922 


'11     i  /•   '  ^PPyright,  1922 

By  Columbia  University  Press 


Printed  from  type,  January,  1922 


To  My  Father 

Who  First  Awakened  in  Me 

a  Love 

for  the  Study  of_  German 


^ 


469037 


PREFACE 

The  present  study  owes  its  origin  to  a  conversation  on  the 
German  novel  of  the  nineteenth  century  which  I  had  with 
Professor  Frederick  W.  J.  Heuser  early  in  1920.  On  this 
occasion  Professor  Heuser  called  my  attention  to  a  paper 
written  by  Dr.  Friedrich  Schonemann  in  19 1 5  for  the  American 
Modern  Language  Association  entitled  "Theodor  Fontane 
und  England,"  in  which  is  discussed  the  influence  of  certain 
British  novelists  on  the  fiction  of  Fontane.  This  essay 
formed  the  starting-point  for  my  investigation.  To  Dr. 
Schonemann  too  I  am  deeply  indebted  for  valuable  advice, 
especially  during  the  early  stages  of  my  work.  It  is  also  a 
particular  pleasure  to  acknowledge  here  the  inestimable  as- 
sistance rendered  by  Miss  Bertha  E.  Trebein,  the  author  of 
the  monograph,  Theodor  Fontane  as  a  Critic  of  the  Drama. 
Doctor  Trebein,  who  had  access  in  Berlin  to  Fontane's  un- 
published diaries  and  letters  as  well  as  to  the  files  of  various 
periodicals,  has  most  generously  given  me  the  benefit  of  her 
exhaustive  research.  For  information  concerning  details  of 
Fontane's  works  and  literary  activity  I  am  obliged  to  the 
very  cordial  co-operation  of  Mr.  Friedrich  Fontane,  the 
publisher,  a  son  of  the  novelist.  More  than  to  anyone,  how- 
ever, the  successful  completion  of  this  monograph — the 
difficulty  of  which  cannot  be  judged  by  its  length — is  due  to 
the  fruitful  suggestions  and  the  constant,  stimulating  en- 
couragement of  Professor  Robert  Herndon  Fife.  Helpful 
counsel  was  also  given  by  Professor  Heuser  and  Professor 
Henry  H.  L.  Schulze.  To  Professor  Fife  and  to  my  colleague 
Dr.  Gerhard  Baerg  of  Wesleyan  University,  I  am  indebted 
for  assistance  in  reading  the  proof. 


Lambert  Armour  Shears 


MiDDLETOWN,  CONNECTICUT 

November,  1921 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction xi 

I.  Fontane's    Early    Interest   in    English    Lit- 
erature     .         I 

II.  The  Journalist  AND  England ii 

III.  Fontane's  Conception  of  the  Historical  Novel, 

WITH  Particular  Reference  to  Scott  ....      27 

IV.  Influences  of  the  Waverley  Novels  on  Fon- 

tane's Vor  dem  Sturm     39 

V.  Minor   Influences  of  Scott  in  Motive  and 

Technique 56 

Conclusion 70 

Bibliography 78 


INTRODUCTION 

Scholars  have  generally  concluded  from  Fontane's  activity 
as  a  translator  of  English  and  Scotch  poems  and  from  his 
long  residence  as  journalist  in  England  that  English  influ- 
ences played  some  part  in  his  development  as  an  author. 
But  they  usually  limit  this  indebtedness  to  the  ballad  writer 
and  translator,  neglecting  entirely  a  consideration  of  the  pos- 
sible influence  of  British  novelists,  especially  Scott,  on  the 
fiction  of  the  German  writer. 

Yet  the  allusions  to  Scott  in  Fontane's  works  extend  over 
a  period  of  many  years — from  boyhood  to  old  age.  The 
depth  of  the  poet's  enthusiasm  is  attested  by  every  mention 
of  the  great  author,  even  by  those  references  dating  from 
Fontane's  later  period,  when  he  had  become  the  realistic 
portrayer  of  Berlin  life.  The  mature  writer,  to  be  sure,  is 
more  conscious  of  Scott's  careless  technique,  but  this  fact 
does  not  mar  his  enjoyment  of  the  Waverley  Novels  nor  his 
appreciation  of  Scott's  unique  genius.^  Indeed,  the  refer- 
ences to  Scott  are  found  in  practically  every  genre  of  Fon- 
tane's works, — autobiography,  letters  and  diary,  in  descrip- 
tions of  travel,  in  critical  essays,  in  novels  and  in  poetry.^ 

1  Cf.  letter,  Aug.  13,  1877.     W,  2,  VI,  247. 

*  However,  we  find  few  definite  statements  by  Fontane  of  works  which  he 
must  have  used  to  obtain  his  extensive  knowledge  of  the  novelist,  the  poet,  the 
great  personality,  the  ballad  editor  and  critic.  Fontane  mentions  having  read 
some  essay  of  Scott  concerning  a  point  of  technique  in  Waverley, — "Hermann 
und  Dorothea,"  in  Literarische  Studien  und  Eindriicke.     W,  2,  IX,  221. 

In  the  chapter  "Abbotsford"  in  Jenseit  des  Tweed,  p.  510,  he  cites  "Lock- 
hart,"  (title  of  book  not  given),  concerning  a  detail  in  Scott's  life.  For  a  trans- 
lation of  Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border,  which  the  poet  probably  used 
cf.  below,  p.  8,  footnote. 

xi 


Xll  INTRODUCTION 

A  few  representative  extracts  will  illustrate  the  poet's  famil- 
iarity with  the  Scottish  writer  and  his  attitude  toward  him. 

The  elderly  author  of  Meine  Kinder jahre  (1893)  still  re- 
members with  gratitude  the  scraps  of  Scott  which  as  a  boy 
in  Swinemunde  he  heard  from  his  father,  who  read  exclusively 
Scott.'  The  discovery  in  1848  of  Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the 
Scottish  Border,  a  book  which  with  Percy's  Reliques  of  Ancient 
Poetry,  determined  Fontane's  direction  and  taste  for  years,* 
showed  him  a  new  side  of  Scott,  viz.,  the  student  and  recreator 
of  popular  ballads.  Twenty  years  later  there  appears  one 
of  the  poet's  most  enthusiastic  effusions  concerning  Scott's 
genius.  Fontane  is  reading  the  Tales  of  a  Grandfather.  He 
explains  that  while  Scott  wrote  this  history  for  his  grandson, 
"the  great  Waverley  poet  wrote  it  with  a  still  later  object, 
for  a  baby  who  just  at  that  time  lay  in  his  cradle  in  the 
Lowen-Apotheke  in  Neu-Ruppin.  And  the  said  baby,  now 
pretty  well  grown  up,  is  delighted  with  every  line,  with  the 
child-like  manner,  with  the  classical  simplicity  of  expression, 
and  exclaims  louder  than  ever,  'long  live  Scott;  you  others 
are  after  all  nothing  but  bunglers  (Nachtwdchter) .'  "^ 

As  late  as  1884  Fontane  would  seem  to  be  reading  his 
favorite  author  again.  "Yes  Walter  Scott  ....  is  a 
blessing,  like  forest  and  mountain  air.  Men  write  after  all  as 
they  are.  He  was  a  delightful  human  specimen  {Menschen^ 
Exemplar),  a  genuine,  real  gentleman."* 

Even  in  the  dialogue  of  his  novels  Fontane  has  allusions 
to  Scott.  In  CScile  there  is,  to  be  sure,  no  specific  mention 
of  Scott,  but  the  references  there  to  Mary  Stuart  and  Loch- 
leven  suggest  the  Abbot.    There  is  also  an  allusion  to  Scott 

» w.  2.  II,  106. 
*w.  2.  III.  22. 

'Letter,  May  20,  1868.     W,  2,  VI,  149. 

•  Unpublished  letter,  June  i8,  1884,  transmitted  to  the  writer  by  Miss  B.  E. 
Trebein. 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

in  Graf  Petofy^  Unwiederbringlich  (1892)  and  Effi  Briest 
(1895)  both  contain  direct  references  to  the  Waverley  Novels. 
In  the  former  story,  Count  Hoik,  who  is  just  leaving  for 
Copenhagen,  directs  his  servant  to  take  along  a  few  volumes 
of  Scott.  ".  .  .  .  you  never  can  tell,  and  he  is  always 
suitable."^  In  Ejfi  Briest,  the  heroine  sends  her  servant  for 
books,  mentioning  among  other  Ivanhoe  and  Quentin  Dur- 
ward.^  Fontane  also  wrote  two  poems  presenting  character- 
istic events  in  the  life  of  Sir  Walter:  "Walter  Scotts  Einzug 
in  Abbotsford"  and  "Walter  Scott  in  Westminster-Abtei." 

In  view  of  quotations  and  allusions  such  as  have  just  been 
given  it  seems  strange  that  the  influence  of  Scott  on  the 
novelist  Fontane,  especially  on  the  author  of  historical  novels, 
has  not  received  more  general  attention  from  scholars.  More- 
over, we  should  expect  that  some  of  the  obvious  romantic 
features  in  Fontane 's  novels,  particularly  Vor  dent  Sturm 
(such  as  the  character  of  Hoppenmarieken,  the  supernatural 
etc.),  and  also  that  an  acknowledgment  which  Fontane 
makes  of  general  indebtedness  to  Scott  in  his  first  novel  ^^ 
would  have  directed  investigators  to  this  subject.  One  of 
the  latter,  Wandrey,  who  in  his  valuable  recent  biography 
of  Fontane  consistently  neglects  the  importance  of  the  study 
of  sources,  disposes  of  the  romantic  elements  in  Vor  dem 
Sturm  very  easily.  "The  retarding,  long-spun-out  parts  are 
counteracted  by  many  elements,  features  which  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  old  novel  of  popular  entertainment,  romantic 
in  the  unpleasant  sense,  rather  than  considered  as  springing 
from  the  essential  nature  of  the  ballad-writer."^^ 

However,    most   scholars   have   taken   the    position   that 

'W,  I,  IV.  197. 

«  W,  I.  VII,  62. 

» W.  I,  IX.  247. 

10  c/.  letter,  June  17,  1866.     W,  2.  X.  246. 

"  Conrad  Wandrey,  Theodor  Fontane,  S.  115. 


XIV  INTRODUCTION 

Fontane  in  his  historical  novels  is  a  pupil  of  Alexis. ^^  The 
reasons  for  this  are  not  far  to  seek.  Both  Alexis  and  Fontane 
are  pioneer  poets  of  the  Mark  Brandenburg,  both  treat  the 
same  period  and  select  the  same  central  figure  in  their  his- 
torical novels,  Alexis  in  Isegrimm,  and  Fontane  in  Vor  dem 
Sturm.  Moreover,  there  is  a  general  similarity  in  technique 
in  these  two  works.  In  view  of  the  statement  of  Tschirch 
that  Fontane  himself  declared  that  he  never  came  into  close 
contact  with  Alexis  and  only  in  later  life  became  more  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  his  novels,  it  would  seem  that  the 
influence  of  Alexis  on  Fontane  has  been  greatly  exaggerated 
by  investigators.^^ 

A  few  scholars,  however,  do  concede  the  influence  of  Scott 
on  Fontane's  historical  novels.  Among  these,  Schonemann 
states  the  poet's  relation  to  the  British  author  most  clearly.^* 
Maync  in  his  excellent  little  study  of  Fontane  also  acknowl- 
edges this  influence.^^ 

"  Kummer,  who  devotes  considerable  space  to  Fontane, — Deutsche  Litera- 
turgeschichte  des  neunzehnten  Jahrhunderts,  S.  6i6  ff., — and  Hayens,  Theodor 
Fontane,  p.  35, — even  bring  in  the  name  of  Hesekiel  in  this  connection,  without 
acknowledging  that  Fontane  owed  any  direct  indebtedness  to  Scott.  Georg 
Hesekiel,  the  poet's  associate  on  the  staff  of  the  Kreuzzeitung,  wrote  a  conven- 
tional type  of  novel  in  the  manner  of  Scott,  treating  the  Napoleonic  era  in 
Prussia.  But  that  this  Vielschreiher  could  have  exerted  any  tangible  influence 
on  Fontane  seems  highly  improbable.  Fontane,  it  is  true,  made  the  Wars  of 
Liberation  the  subject  of  novels,  but  so  did  a  number  of  German  writers  who 
followed  the  Scott  tradition.  Cf.  Mielke,  Der  deutsche  Roman,  4  Ausg.,  Dresden, 
1912,  S.  103. 

13  "Wilibald  Alexis  als  vaterlandischer  Dichter  und  Patriot,"  Forschungen  zur 
Brandenburgischen  und  Preussichen  Geschichte.  Bd.  XII  (1899),  S.  224.  As  I 
cannot  find  the  statement  referred  to  by  Tschirch  in  Fontane's  works,  this 
communication  seems  to  have  been  made  orally. 

"  Friedrich  Schonemann,  "Theodor  Fontane  und  England,"  Publications  of 
the  Modern  Language  Association.     1915-     Vol.  XXX,  p.  669  flf. 

"  Harry  Maync,  Theodor  Fontane  jSjq-iqiq.  S.  35.  R.  M.  Meyer, — Ge- 
schichte der  deutschen  Liter atur.  Vol.  II.  Die  deutsche  Liter atur  des  neunzehnten 
und  zwanzigsten  Jahrhunderts.  S.  402,  calls  Vor  dem  Sturm  an  "historical  novel 
of  the  Walter  Scott  school." 


INTRODUCTION  XV 

In  the  first  chapter  of  the  present  investigation  we  shall 
trace  the  early  manifestations  of  Fontane's  interest  in  English 
literature,  as  shown,  first  by  the  poetizing  young  apothecary, 
who  is  fond  of  trying  his  hand  at  translations  from  English, 
and  later  by  the  ballad  writer,  who  reads  his  poems  on  British 
and  Scotch  subjects  at  meetings  of  the  important  Berlin 
literary  society,  the  "Tunnel  uber  der  Spree." 

In  the  second  chapter  we  shall  then  follow  the  journalist 
to  England  and  observe  his  reactions  to  this  country,  the 
object  of  his  early  enthusiasm,  as  expressed  particularly  in 
the  collection  of  feuilleton  articles  Aus  England  und  Schott- 
land.  Here  we  will  note  the  ripening  of  Fontane's  literary 
powers.  Just  as  the  ballad  author  began  as  the  pupil  of 
English  and  Scotch  teachers,  so  too  the  novelist  served  a 
part  of  his  apprenticeship  with  British  masters.  For  the 
young  Fontane  the  most  important  of  these  was  Walter 
Scott.  It  is  significant  that  the  conception  of  the  poet's 
first  great  historical  novel,  which,  as  we  shall  see,  is  full  of 
Scott  influences,  dates  back  to  the  year  1856,  when  the 
author  was  still  in  England. 

In  the  third  chapter  it  will  be  shown  that  Fontane,  who 
succeeded  Alexis  as  a  poet  of  the  Mark  Brandenburg,  bases 
his  theories  regarding  the  treatment  of  the  historical  novel 
on  Scott's  practice.  We  shall  there  consider  how  far  he 
carries  out  these  principles  in  his  first  novel,  Vor  dem  Sturm^ 
the  scene  of  which  is  laid  in  Brandenburg. 

Finally,  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  chapters  the  writer  has 
proceeded  to  a  detailed,  comparative  study  of  the  novel  of 
Fontane  and  Scott. ^^  Despite  the  fact  that  no  definite  state- 
ment of  Scott's  influence  has  been  made  either  by  Fontane 
or  by  students  of  Fontane,  it  has  been  possible  to  adduce 

i«  As  far  as  I  am  aware,  the  present  investigation  is  the  first  study  which  has 
been  made  of  the  sources  of  Fontane's  novels. 


XVI  INTRODUCTION 

certain  striking  evidence  of  dependence  of  the  German  writer 
on  the  author  of  the  Waverley  novels. 

This  influence  of  Scott  on  Fontane's  novels  is  confined, 
as  we  shall  see,  chiefly  to  the  poet's  maiden  eff^ort  in  fiction, 
the  long  historical  novel  Vor  dem  Sturm  (1878).  However, 
there  are  also  well-defined  traces  of  Scott  to  be  found  in  the 
work&  of  the  mature  realist.  For  Fontane  began  his  literaiy 
career  devoted  to  the  romantic  movement,  and  he  never 
entirely  forsook  his  early  love,  as  Romanticism  in  the  broad, 
popular  sense  of  the  term  formed  an  essential  element  of  his 
nature.  To  our  author  Scott  represented  the  AUromantik^ 
which  he  calls  "an  eternal  thing,  that  is  almost  synonymous 
with  the  conception  of  the  poetic."  ^^ 

The  total  amount  of  Fontane's  indebtedness  to  Scott  is, 
to  be  sure,  very  small,  when  the  bulk  of  the  German  author's 
work  is  taken  into  account,  and  is  limited  largely  to  subject- 
matter,  although  traces  may  also  be  found  of  Scott's  tech- 
nique in  Fontane's  novels.  Nevertheless  it  is  often  clear 
and  definite,  and  forms  a  striking  contrast  with  the  more 
realistic  body  of  the  work.^^ 

1'  Essay,  "Wilibald  Alexis."     W,  2,  IX,  215. 

"  There  doubtless  exists  in  several  of  Fontane's  novels  general  Scott  influ- 
ence, such  as  the  presence  of  supernatural  elements  in  Vor  dem  Sturm,  but  I 
have  avoided  seeking  such  points,  as  they  are  more  or  less  intangible  and  diffi- 
cult to  establish. 


CHAPTER  I 

FONTANE'S   EARLY   INTEREST   IN   ENGLISH 
LITERATURE 

When  Theodor  Fontane  was  in  the  seventh  year  of  his 
age,  his  parents  moved  to  Swinemunde  on  the  Baltic,  where 
the  boy  spent  five  years  rich  in  experience  of  Vcdue  for  the 
future  author.  Swinemunde  was  well  calculated  to  kindle 
the  fantasy  of  an  imaginative  youth.  The  population,  as 
the  poet  tells  us  in  Meine  Kinderjahre,^  had  a  free  inter- 
national tone,  since  it  included  among  its  citizens  the  descen- 
dants of  a  number  of  north-European  nations. 

As  a  sea-faring  people,  the  inhabitants  of  the  little  Baltic 
town  were  familiar  with  England  and  the  English  language. 
Eagerly  young  Fontane  would  listen  to  the  marvellous  tales 
of  the  nautical  visitors.  "For  half-hours  at  a  time  I  watched, 
when  I  could,  the  work  of  the  English  dredge,  the  engineer 
of  which,  an  old  Scotchman  by  the  name  of  Macdonald, 
was  my  particular  patron.  That  I,  a  generation  later,  should 
make  a  tour  through  the  country  of  his  Scottish  clan  and 
go  to  the  place  on  the  island  of  Icolmskill,  where,  according 
to  old  assumption.  King  Macbeth  lies  buried — ^who  could 
have  told  me  that  then!"^ 

It  was  as  a  boy  in  Swinemunde  that  Fontane  first  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Walter  Scott's  novels.  Young  Theodor's 
father,  whose  charming  personality  was  greatly  admired  by 
his  son,  had  a  romantic  leaning  toward  the  heroes  of  history. 
"He  read  only  Scott,  for  which  I   thank  him  even  to-day, 

iW,  2,  11,66. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  63. 


•a;  ;.  ' ,  '  WAiTEK  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

eap,  QdiTie.srriall.Qrom^is  fell  to  my  lot  even  then."^  The  few 
liihts  tliat  we  receive  of  Fontane's  early  interest  in  Scott 
are  sufficient  to  indicate  the  causes  of  his  enthusiasm  for 
the  author.  The  Scott  vogue  in  Germany  was  at  its  height 
in  Fontane's  youth,  and  this  was  the  period  of  the  numerous 
imitations  of  Scott.*  Fontane  mentions  meeting  in  Swine- 
mtinde  the  son  of  Colonel  von  Witzleben.  The  latter,  using 
the  nom  de  plume  Tromlitz,  the  poet  tells  us,  enjoyed  a 
fame  through  his  novels  in  Scott's  manner  which  it  is  difficult 
for  the  present  day  to  comprehend.^ 

It  was  in  Swinemiinde  too  that  Fontane's  life-long  interest 
in  history  received  its  earliest  nurture.  Here  the  elder  Fon- 
tane at  one  time  taught  his  son  by  his  favorite  "Socratic" 
method,  in  which  anecdotes  about  Napoleon  and  his  generals 
played  the  most  important  role.  Moreover,  the  years  which 
Fontane  spent  in  this  town  were  rich  in  stirring  events  in 
the  world  without.  Important  history  was  in  the  making, — 
the  liberation  of  Greece,  the  Russo-Turkish  war,  the  July 
Revolution,  and  the  Polish  insurrection.  Asked  what  he 
wished  to  be  when  he  grew  up,  the  ten-year  old  Fontane 
answered  "a  professor  of  history,"  and  when  a  thirteen-year 
old  Tertianer  at  the  gymnasium  in  Neu-Ruppin,  he  acquired 
such  a  reputation  in  this  field  that  he  coached  the  Primaner 
for  their  examinations  in  history. 

Fontane's  first  poem,  written  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and 
inspired  by  Chamisso,  treats  of  the  "Schlacht  bei  Hochkirch."* 
Two  years  later  Fontane  composes  another  historical  poem, 
the  epic  "Heinrich  der  Vierte."  ^ 

'  Ibid.,  p.  io6. 

*  Cf.  below,  p.  27. 
»W.  2,  II,  143. 

•  This  poem  doubtless  celebrated  the  Scotch-Prussian  Marshal  Keith,  who 
lost  his  life  in  this  battle.  Cf.  Fontane's  poem  written  later,  "Keith." 

'  Letter,  Feb.  14,  1854.     W.  2,  X,  106. 


FONTANELS  INTEREST  IN  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  3 

In  1836  Fontane  interrupted  his  studies  to  enter  on  an 
apprenticeship  at  the  Rose  Apotheke  in  BerHn.  When  he 
returned  to  them  seven  years  later  it  was  with  the  intention 
of  devoting  himself  to  history.  That  this  plan  was  not  carried 
out  was  owing  to  the  arrival  of  his  Militdrjahr,  which  began 
at  Easter,  1844.  The  intervening  years,  however,  cannot 
have  been  without  importance  for  his  study  of  English  litera- 
ture. When  an  apprentice  at  the  Rose  Apotheke  (1836- 1840) 
it  was  Fontanels  duty  to  handle  a  number  of  modern  books, 
as  his  employer  was  one  of  the  founders  of  a  reading  circle. 
Thus  the  names  of  "Young  Germany"  became  familiar  to 
him,  and  he  recorded  his  delight  at  reading  Wienbarg's 
story  Byrons  erste  Liehe.^  As  these  Young  German  authors 
were  particularly  fond  of  Shakespeare,  Byron,  and  Scott, ^ 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  Fontane  came  across  many  English 
books  in  this  way.  Two  of  his  early  productions,  an  epic 
and  a  novel,  secured  for  Fontane  literary  connections,  and 
in  1840,  while  still  at  the  Rose  Apotheke,  he  joined  the  Lenau 
and  the  Platen  Clubs.  The  next  year,  when  assistant  to  an 
apothecary  in  Leipsic,  a  satirical  poem  "Shakespeares  Strumpf" 
brought  the  author  to  the  notice  of  the  publisher  Robert 
Binder,  and  he  was  soon  introduced  to  a  Herwegh  club. 
Here  Fontane  made  the  acquaintance  of  Max  MuUer,  at 
that  time  only  eighteen  years  old,  who  was  later  to  prove 
very  helpful  to  him  during  his  journalistic  activity  in  England. 
The  young  poet  was  affected  by  all  the  literary  fashions  of 
the  day,  and  the  historical  verse  first  inspired  by  Chamisso 
gave  way  during  Fontane's  stay  in  Leipsic  (1841)  to  liberal- 
political  lyrics  in  the  style  of  Herwegh. 

Throughout  this  entire  period  Fontane  seems  to  have 
been  reading  much  English  literature.     In  the  half-year  be- 

8W,  2,  II,  245. 

•  L.  M.  Price,  English-German  Literary  Influences,  p.  489. 


4  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

fore  joining  his  regiment  at  Easter,  1844,  ^e  finds  relaxation 
from  his  studies  ^°  by  reading  Macbeth  and  Hamlet}^  His 
first  trip  to  England  followed  in  1844  during  his  year  in  the 
army,  and  after  his  return  we  find  him  reading  Byron's 
Childe  Harold.  Young  Fontane  had  indeed  already  given 
concrete  evidence  of  his  interest  in  English  literature.  In 
1843  he  had  made  his  first  serious  attempt  to  establish  him- 
self in  the  literary  world  by  translating  from  English  the 
poems  of  the  "anti-Cornlaw  rhymer"  Nichols,  which  were 
"very  popular  in  the  forties."  However,  his  publisher  finally 
backed  out  of  the  undertaking.^^  But  even  before  this  Fon- 
tane had  published  translations  from  English.  In  1841  the 
short-lived  periodical  Die  Eisenhahn^^  contained  a  contribu- 
tion from  his  pen,  "Das  Gcspensterschiff^,  nach  Kapt.  Mar- 
ryat."^*  He  also  translated,  probably  before  1844,  The 
Money-lender,  "a  very  good  novel"  by  the  minor  English 
novelist,  Mrs.  Gore.^^  Furthermore,  an  unpublished  trans- 
lation of  Hamlet  in  prose  and  verse,  found  among  Fontane's 
posthumous  manuscripts,  is  placed  by  Conrad  before  the 
poet's  first  visit  to  England,  in  1844.^*  Another  play  of 
Shakespeare  translated  by  Fontane  is  A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream}'' 

^^Cf.  above,  p.  3. 

»w.  2. 11,375. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  374. 

"  IV,  No.  so. 

"  Reprinted  by  Paul  Wissmann,  Theodor  Fontane.  Seine  episch-lyrischen 
Dichtungen.     S.  85. 

"  W,  2,  II,  253.  I  have  not  had  access  to  a  recent  investigation  of  this  trans- 
lation, "Fontane  als  Ubersetzer  eines  englischen  Romans:  Abnedego  der  Pfand- 
leiher"  by  O.  Pniower  in  the  Mitteilungen  des  Vereins  fiir  die  Geschichte  Berlins, 
1919,  2. 

"  Hermann  Conrad,  "Theodor  Fontanes  Hamlet."  Das  literarische  Echo, 
II.  IS. 

»^  Kritische  Causerien  iiber  Theater.     W,  2,  VIII.     Vorwort,  S.  XII. 


FONTANE's  interest  in  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  5 

The  year  1844  was  of  prime  importance  for  Fontane's 
development  as  an  author.  Through  Bernhard  von  Lepel, 
an  officer  in  the  Kaiser-Franz  regiment,  in  which  the  poet 
served  his  year  with  the  colors,  the  young  writer  in  May, 
1844,  was  introduced  to  his  fourth  literary  society,  the  "Tunnel 
iiber  der  Spree"  or  the  "Berliner  Sonntagsverein,"  and  he 
soon  after  became  a  full-fledged  member  of  the  organization.^^ 
The  Berlin  "Tunnel"  is  unique  for  the  number  of  its  members 
who  attained  the  first  rank  in  the  world  of  letters  and  other 
fields  of  art^^  and  for  the  many  social  classes  represented, 
bound  together  solely  by  devotion  to  high  literary  ideals. 
Founded  by  M.  G.  Saphir  in  1827,  it  began  as  a  club  of 
literary  dilettantes,  but  developed  into  a  society  of  poets 
after  Fontane  became  a  member.^^ 

To  the  influence  of  the  Tunnel  Fontane  owed  his  renuncia- 
tion of  poetry  in  the  Herwegh  vein,  cultivated  in  the  Leipsic 
period,  and  his  return  to  the  historical  verse  with  which  he 
was  to  enjoy  marked  success.  He  now  devoted  himself 
chiefly  to  the  ballad.  Indeed  the  great  majority  of  his  bal- 
lads from  English-Scotch  and  Prussian  history  were  written 
during  the  period  1 844-1 855,  when  the  poet  took  an  active 
part  in  the  Tunnel  meetings.  Soon  after  his  initiation  in 
the  Tunnel  Fontane  came  under  the  sway  of  a  fellow  member, 
Count  Moritz  Strachwitz,  although  he  never  met  him  at  a 
session  of  the  club.     To  Strachwitz'  ballad  "Das  Herz  von 

18  According  to  the  Tunnel  records, — cf.  A.  R.  T.  Tielo,  "Fontanes  erste 
lyrische  Dichtungen."  Allgem.  Ztg.,  Beil.  Miinchen,  1899,  No.  128, — "the 
apothecary  Herr  Fontane"  was  received  into  the  society  Sept.  29,  1844. 

1' Among  authors  we  find  the  names  of  Count  Moritz  Strachwitz,  Theodor 
Storm,  Paul  Heyse,  Felix  Dahn,  Emmanuel  Geibel,  Heinrich  Seidel. 

"  Cf.  Fontane's  sketch  of  the  Tunnel  and  some  of  its  members  in  Von  Zwanzig 
bis  Dreissig.  W,  2,  III,  i  ff.  For  the  early  history  of  the  Tunnel  cf.  Der  Tunnel 
iiber  der  Spree.  I.  Kinder-  und  Flegeljahre  1827-1840,  by  Dr.  Fritz  Behrend. 
Heft  51  of  the  Schriften  des  Vereins  fUr  die  Geschichte  Berlins.     Berlin,  1919- 


6  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

Douglas"  the  poet  gives  the  highest  praise. ^^  Another  mem- 
ber of  the  Tunnel  who  must  have  exerted  some  influence 
in  introducing  Fontane  to  British  literature  was  Otto  Gilde- 
meister  who  used  to  read  his  "masterly  translations"  from 
the  English  at  sessions  of  the  Tunnel.^^  In  1843,  the  year 
before  Fontane  entered  the  Tunnel,  Gildemeister  read  his 
version  of  the  "Douglas-Tragedy."  As  Wegmann  points 
out,^^  Fontane's  determination  to  translate  this  poem,  read 
on  October  i,  1854,  was  doubtless  strengthened  by  the  ex- 
ample of  his  predecessor.  Fontane  was  accustomed  to  read 
his  poems  of  this  period  at  meetings  of  the  Tunnel,  and  he 
became  one  of  the  four  members  who  contributed  most  to 
the  literary  entertainment  of  this  society.^^  Here  he  profited 
greatly  by  the  example  of,  and  competition  with  poets  of 
high  standing,  as  well  as  by  sharp  criticism  from  masters 
of  the  craft. 

Fontane's  poems  of  this  period  on  English  subjects  may 
be  divided  into  three  classes :  (i)  free  renditions  of  old  English 
and  Scotch  ballads ;  (2)  ballads ;  based  on  English  and  Scotch 
subjects,  especially  history;  (3)  translations  from  modern 
English  and  Scotch  poets. 

In  1848  the  discovery  of  Percy's  Reliques  of  Ancient  Poetry 
and  Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border,  "two  books 
which  determined  my  direction  and  taste  for  years," ^^  marks 
an  epoch  in  Fontane's  life  and  inaugurates  an  active  period 
of  translation.  We  owe  to  Wegmann  ^^  an  investigation 
of    Fontane's    translations    of     English    and     Scotch     bal- 

«  w,  2.  III.  27. 

«W.  2,  III,  332. 

2»  Theodor  Fontane  als  Obersetzer  englischer  und  schottischer  BaUaden,  S.  22. 

"W.  2.  Ill,  23. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  22. 

2«  Op.  cit. 


FONTANELS  INTEREST  IN  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  7 

lads.  2^  Fontane,  according  to  Wegmann,  ^^  informed  Brandl 
that  he  used  the  following  books  as  sources :  Percy's  Reliques  of 
Ancient  Poetry  (1845),  J.  S.  Moore's  Pictorial  Book  of  Ballads 
(London  1847),  and  Walter  Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish 
Border.  Eleven  ballads  are  translated  from  Percy,  seven 
from  Scott  and  three  from  Moore.^^  Wegmann  has  also 
given  the  dates  when  most  of  these  poems  were  read  at  ses- 
sions of  the  Tunnel.^^  The  first  of  the  adaptations  from  the 
English,  "Chevy  Chase"  or  "Die  Jagd  im  Chevy  Forst," 
from  Percy  was  read  December  3,  1848;  the  last,  "Lord 
Maxwells  Lebewohl"  from  Scott,  on  April  30,  1859,  after  the 
poet's  return  from  his  last  residence  in  England. 

Fontane's  versions  of  the  English  ballads  are  really  too 
free  and  original  to  be  called  translations.  These  poems, 
some  of  which  Wegmann  considers  an  improvement  on  their 
models,  usually  received  the  verdict  "very  good"  from  the 
members  of  the  Tunnel. 

The  first  of  a  number  of  ballads  on  English  themes^^  was 
written  in  1844,  in  Fontane's  first  year  in  the  Tunnel.** 
These  poems  received  their  initial  impulse  from  Fontane's 
brief  English  trip  in  July,  1844.     "The  poem  'Towerbrand'^^ 

27  In  the  volume  of  Fontane's  poems — W,  2,  I — under  "Lieder  und  Balladen, 
frei  nach  dem  Englischen,"  except  "Marie  Duchatel,"  which  is  found  under 
"Bilder  and  Balladen.     II.     Englisch-Schottisches." 

28  Op.  ciL,  p.  2. 

2«  Wegmann,  op,  cit.,  gives  no  source  for  "Lord  Murray,"  "Die  Blumen  des 
Waldes,"  nor  for  "Leslys  Marsch,"  included  among  the  translations  from  the 
English.  A  version  of  "Lord  Murray,"  differing  considerably  from  Fontane's 
poem,  is  found  in  Percy's  Reliques,  Vol.  II,  p.  170.  "Die  Blumen  des  Waldes" 
and  "Leslys  Marsch*  appear  in  Scott's  Minstrelsy,  VoL  I,  p.  274,  and  Vol.  Ill, 
p.  141,  respectively. 

30  The  minutes  of  the  Tunnel  furnish  definite  data  for  all  but  six  of  the  ballads. 

'*  In  the  poems  under  "Bilder  und  Balladen.  II.  Englisch-Schottisches." 

»2  These  poems  cannot,  as  Zillmann  states, — Friedrich  Zillmann,  Theodor 
Fontane  als  Dichter,  Er  und  Uber  ihn,  S.  49, — be  inspired  by  Percy  and  Scott,  as 
Fontane  did  not  become  acquainted  with  these  works  until  1848. 

"  Read  at  a  Tunnel  session  Dec.  15,  1844. 


8  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

made  a  sort  of  sensation:  I  wrote  it  after  my  first  English 
trip,  still  full  of  London  influences  and  decided  to  a  certain 
extent  as  to  my  course."^*  The  poet  preferred  as  themes  for 
his  ballads  of  this  period  dramatic,  oftfen  tragic  scenes  from 
English  history,  and  also  heroic  characters,  especially  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots. ^^ 

A  ballad  from  Scotch  history  which  has  enjoyed  very 
great  popularity  is  Fontane's  "Archibald  Douglas."^^  This 
poem  is  based  on  a  note  in  Scott's  Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish 
Border.^'' 

Fontane  translated,  especially  during  the  period  when  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Tunnel,  a  number  of  modern  English 
poems.^*  On  May  lo,  1846,  he  read  to  the  club  his  transla- 
tion of  a  passage  from  the  Night  Thoughts  by  Young.^^    "Mel- 

»*  Letter,  Feb.  14,  1854.     W,  2,  X,  104. 

•'  Cf.  the  ballad  cycle  "Maria  Stuart." 

wRead  in  the  Tunnel  on  Dec.  3,  1854,  receiving  the  highest  award,  viz., 
"acclamation." 

*">  The  source  of  this  poem  has  occasioned  considerable  discussion  by  scholars. 
Die  Nation,  BerUn,  1898,  No.  4,  puWished  a  letter  from  Fontane  stating  that  the 
ballad  dated  from  the  year  1853  and  was  inspired  by  a  passage  in  Scott's  Tales 
of  a  Grandfather.  However,  Daheim,  44,  10,  contained  a  letter  from  Fontane, 
dated  1896,  saying  that  the  source  of  "Archibald  Douglas"  was  a  note  to  a  poem 
of  Scott  which  he  had  found  in  a  poor  translation.  In  the  Vossische  Zeitung, 
Beil.,  1914,  N.  2.  H.  Rhyn  gives  as  the  source  of  the  poem  Scott's  Minstrelsy 
of  the  Scottish  Border.  Ibid.,  N.  29,  1914,  H.  Tardel  shows  that  this  book  must 
have  been  the  translation  of  the  Minstrelsy  published  by  Schumann  Brothers 
in  Zwickau,  edited  a  number  of  times  since  1823. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  romantic  story  of  Archibald  Douglas  is  found,  not  in 
a  note  to  a  ballad,  but  in  a  note  in  the  rather  long  introduction  to  the  Min- 
strelsy, Vol.  I,  note  to  p.  XXI.  The  same  story  also  appears  in  the  Tales  of  a 
Grandfather  at  the  end  of  Chap.  XXVL  Miscellaneous  Prose  Works  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  Vol.  in. 

»8  Among  the  ballads  translated  from  the  English  there  appear  two  versions 
from  modern  poets:  "Charles  Bawdins  Tod  und  Begrabnis"  from  Chatterton 
and  "John  Gilpin"  from  Cowper,  both  found  in  J.  S.  Moore's  Pictorial  Book  of 
Ballads,  London,  1847. 

«» Record  from  Tunnel  minutes,  reprinted  by  Wegmann,  op.  cit.,  p.  104. 


FONTANE  S  INTEREST  IN  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  9 

rose  Abbey"  from  the  Lay  of  the  last  Minstrel  and  ten  lines 
from  Marmion  represent  his  translations  from  Scott's  poems 
in  this  period.*^  From  Burns,  a  favorite  with  Fontane,  the 
poet  has  translated  "Bannockburn,"  several  Jacobite  songs*^ 
and  "Was  kann  ein  jung  Madel,  was  soil  ein  Madel."^^  An- 
other singer  of  humble  origin  in  whom  Fontane  was  greatly 
interested  was  the  workingman-poet  John  Prince.^^  Fondness 
for  the  dramatic  is  shown  in  several  of  Fontane's  translations, 
such  as  "Balaklawa"  ("Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade"),  by 
Tennyson  and  "General  Sir  John  Moores  Begrabnis"  by 
Charles  Wolfe. 

In  his  Tunnel  period  Fontane  also  produced,  besides  his 
ballads,  several  works  in  other  genres  based  on  English 
history.  He  began  a  tragedy  Karl  Stuart,  the  first  act  of 
which  he  read  at  a  session  of  the  Tunnel  on  October  21,  1849.** 
Already  on  October  4,  1846,  Karl  Stuart,  Fragment  des  Theater- 
stacks  had  been  read  to  the  club.  This  is  a  soliloquy  by 
Charles  I  on  the  night  before  his  execution.'*^  Fontane  also 
planned  a  tragedy  Cromwell,  which  likewise  remained  a 
fragment.^®     A  part  of  the  play,   CromwelVs  Letzte  Nacht, 

*°  Both  these  poems  are  found  in  Jenseit  des  Tweed,  but  only  the  first  has  been 
included  in  the  final  edition  of  the  poems. 

*i  The  originals  of  five  out  of  these  have  been  identified  as  from  Burns. 

*2  The  latter  appears  in  Jenseit  des  Tweed,  but  not  in  the  final  edition  of  the 
poems. 

*3  Mr.  Friedrich  Fontane  has  informed  me  that  some  of  the  translations  of 
Prince's  poems  appeared  in  the  first  edition  of  Fontane's  poems  (1851).  Zill- 
mann, — op.  cit.,  note,  p.  42, — names  two  of  these  poems:  "Der  Friihling  an  den 
Gefangenen"  and  "Eines  Vaters  Wehklage." 

*^  An  extract  from  this  tragedy,  which  appears  as  a  fragment  in  the  first 
edition  of  Fontane's  poems  in  185 1,  is  the  "Puritanerpredigt,"  included  in  the 
later  editions  under  "Englisch-Schottisches." 

*5  Reprinted  by  Wissmann,  op.  cit.,  p.  95,  also  by  Wegmann,  op.  cit,,  p.  105. 

*6  A  lengthy  discussion  of  this  play  is  found  in  a  letter  of  Nov.  20,  1848,  from 
Bernhard  von  Lepel  to  Fontane.  Bernhard  von  Lepel,  Vierzig  Jahre.  Brief e  an 
Theodor  Fontane  von  1843-1883,  S.  107  ff. 


10       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

which  appears  later  in  the  collection  "Englisch-Schottisches," 
was  read  on  the  same  day  as  Karl  Stuart,  October  4,  1846. 
In  addition  to  these  tragedies  our  author  wrote  a  story  James 
Monmouth,  which  treats  of  another  member  of  the  unfortunate 
Stuart  family ,^^  and  a  story  Wolsey.*^ 

*''  Published  in  the  belletristic  annual  Argo  for  1854,  edited  by  Fontane  and 
Franz  Kugler.  Songs  from  this  story,  now  included  among  the  poems  under 
"Englisch-Schottisches,"  are  "Die  Stuarts,"  "Puritanerlied"  and  "Lied  des 
James  Monmouth." 

«  Cf.  letter  to  Storm,  Sept.  12,  1854.  W,  2,  X,  127.  This  is  probably  the  work 
to  which  Mr.  Friedrich  Fontane  referred  when  he  informed  me  of  the  presence 
among  Fontane's  manuscripts  of  the  fragment  of  a  story,  the  scene  of  which  is 
laid  in  1529  in  England. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND 

Fontane's  residence  in  England  at  the  beginning  of  his 
literary  career  had  a  profound  significance  for  his  develop- 
ment as  an  author.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  experi- 
ence would  have  been  so  salutary  in  giving  the  struggling 
author  a  knowledge  of  the  world,  a  broad  general  culture, 
and  clearness  as  to  his  own  literary  mission. 

While  still  a  volunteer  in  the  Kaiser- Franz  regiment, 
Fontane  received  in  July,  1844,  the  opportunity  to  make  his 
first  visit  to  England.  This  piece  of  good  luck  he  owed  to 
the  generosity  of  a  friend,  Hermann  Scherz,  who  paid  the 
expenses  of  a  two  weeks*  excursion  to  the  island  kingdom. 
Fontane's  knowledge  of  English  was  such  that  he  was  able 
to  make  himself  a  useful  traveling  companion.  For  himself 
the  young  apothecary  profited  greatly,  since  the  fortnight 
spent  in  the  island  furnished  an  impulse  which  helped  to 
direct  his  interest  toward  English  poetry.^ 

In  April,  1852,  Fontane  went  to  Englaind  again,  this  time 
as  an  employee  of  the  Prussian  ministerial  press  to  study 
English  conditions.  His  articles  during  his  stay  were  written 
especially  for  the  ministerial  organs,  the  Preussische  Zeitung 
and  Zeit.  In  September  he  returned  home  to  take  up  his 
former  position  with  the  Preussische  Zeitung,'^  with  which 
he  had  begun  a  connection  in  the  first  year  of  his  literary 
career  in  1850. 

'  Cf.  above,  p.  4. 

2  Cf.  letter,  Feb.  16.  1853.     W,  2,  X.  58. 

II 


12  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

In  September,  1855,  the  journalist  returned  to  London  as 
the  representative  of  the  ministerial  press  to  establish  a 
German-English  correspondence  bureau  for  the  support  of 
Prussian  political  interests,  remaining  until  January,  1859, 
and  only  returning  to  Berlin  for  brief  periods  in  1856  and 
1857.  During  his  more  than  three  years  abroad  Fontane 
contributed  articles  to  the  Preussische  Zeitung,  Zeit,  Kreuz- 
zeitung,  Vossische  Zeitung,  Deutsche  Kunstblatt,  and  other 
journals.^ 

It  was  the  fall  of  the  Manteuflfel  ministry,  with  which 
Fontane  was  connected,  that  finally  caused  his  return  to 
Berlin  in  1859.  However,  he  did  not. sever  all  connection 
with  the  niinisterial  press.  Through  the  aid  of  a  fellow- 
member  of  the  Tunnel,  Georg  Hesekiel,  he  joined  the  staff 
of  the  Neue  preussische  {Kreuz-)  Zeitung  in  i860,  and  edited 
the  English  articles.  This  position  Fontane  held  for  ten 
years. 

Both  periods  in  England  had  about  the  same  influence 
on  Fontane's  development,  although  the  first,  as  Wandrey 
points  out,*  could  not  have  had  the  permanent  effect  of  the 
second,  longer  residence. 

The  splendor  and  massiveness  of  English  civilization  call 
forth  Fontane's  enthusiastic  admiration  during  his  first 
activity  as  journalist  in  England.  After  having  been  five 
days  in  London  the  poet  exclaims:  "The  splendor  of  this 
spectacle  has  something  immeasurably  elevating;  because 
one  forgets  himself  entirely,  one  also  forgets  his  misery  and 
his  distress  and  only  feels  elevated  by  the  feeling  that  he  is 
a  part  of  this  whole,  a  member  of  that  great  human  family 
which  lives  thus  and  creates  such  things."*^    Again,  Fontane 

« W,  2,  VI,  36,  note. 

*  Theodor  Fontane,  S.  28. 

'Letter.  April  28,  1852.     W,  2,  VI.  10. 


THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND  1 3 

writes  to  his  wife,  June  14,  1854:  "I  should  like  to  have 
shown  you  London;  for  although  I  have  not  been  successful 
in  any  too  many  things  here,  I  maintain  now  as  before: 
it  is  the  greatest  thing  which  this  earth  has."® 

As  we  see  from  a  number  of  statements  of  Fontane,  one 
of  the  most,  if  not  the  most  beneficial  effect  of  his  residence 
in  London  was  a  schooling  in  experience.  The  journalist 
hoped  to  repair  his  early  deficiencies  in  education  by  the 
opportunities  to  be  obtained  in  London.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  writer's  education  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word, 
had  been  very  scanty.  In  1832  he  attended  the  gymnasium 
in  Neu-Ruppin,  where  his  only  interest  was  history^  and 
in  1833  he  was  sent  to  a  Berlin  technical  school  {Gewerhe- 
schule),  with  the  result  that  he  obtained  a  smattering  of  a 
number  of  subjects,  but  a  thorough  knowledge  of  none.  He 
was  taken  out  of  the  Berlin  school  in  1836  to  begin  an  appren- 
ticeship at  the  Rose  Apotheke.  The  poet  felt  later  that  he 
owed  his  education  to  life  itself,  and  not  to  his  school  training. 
In  this  school  of  life  the  early  English  experiences  played  an 
important  part.  Thus  Fontane  writes  soon  after  his  return 
from  his  first  stay  in  England  that  although  he  was  not 
sorry  to  be  back  in  Berlin,  he  would  like  to  have  stayed  from 
two  to  five  years  longer.  "For  it  is  an  incomparable  school 
for  everyone  and  particularly  for  me."  ^  He  had  hoped 
especially  to  make  good  his  early  deficiencies  in  education 
by  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  literature 
and  national  conditions.  A  number  of  remarks  in  letters 
and  diary  show  the  zeal  with  which  the  journalist  sought  to 
overcome  the  difficulties  of  the  English  language. 

«  Unpublished  letter,  B.  E.  Trebein,  Theodor  Fontane  as  a  Critic  of  the  Drama, 
p.  S,  note  2, 

^  Cf.  above,  p.  2. 

8  Letter,  Oct.  18,  1852.     W,  2,  X,  51. 


14       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

An  important  part  of  this  practical  education  in  England 
was  formed  by  Fontane's  study  of  Shakespeare  as  presented 
in  the  London  theaters,  a  work  which  was  to  bear  fruit  in 
the  feuilleton  papers  published  in  Aus  England.^  The  poet 
wrote  to  his  wife,  October  27,  1855:    "I  take  a  lively  interest 

in  the  Shakespeare  performances These  evenings 

at  the  theater  are  the  best  thing  that  I  have  had  up  to  the 
present."  ^^ 

In  spite  of  his  enthusiasm  for  the  variety  of  English  life 
and  his  appreciation  of  the  benefits  to  be  obtained  in  England, 
the  general  tone  of  Fontane's  London  letters  and  diaries 
during  both  periods  of  his  residence  there  is  pessimistic  and 
gloomy.  Moreover,  English  customs  and  institutions  receive 
a  good  share  of  adverse  criticism.  This  attitude  toward 
English  life  is  to  be  explained  partly  by  the  uncertainty  of 
Fontane's  position  in  London,  especially  during  his  first  stay 
in  1852.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  received  a  fixed  salary 
for  his  work  at  first,  and  he  tried  various  expedients  to  enable 
himself  to  achieve  financial  independence  of  the  ministerial 
press.  Bunsen,  the  Prussian  Ambassador  in  England,  sought 
to  obtain  for  the  young  journalist  a  professorship  at  Oxford 
or  Cambridge, ^^  and  at  one  time  Fontane  even  considered 
establishing  himself  as  an  apothecary  in  England.^^  Another 
factor  tending  to  depress  the  journalist  at  this  time  was  the 
lack  of  the  stimulus  of  intimate  family  and  social  life  which 
he  had  enjoyed  at  home.^' 

Under  such  conditions  Fontane  notices  and  remarks  upon 
the  lack  of  Gemutlichkeit  in  English  life.    With  all  his  admira- 

»C/.  below,  p.  17. 

"Unpublished  diary,  Trebein,  op.  ciL,  p.  11. 
"Letter,  June  21,  1852.     W,  2,  VI,  17. 

"Letter,  written  probably  at  the  beginning  of  Aug.  1852.     W,  2,  VI,  27. 
"Fontane's  family,  however,  joined  him  in  London  during  his  second  resi- 
dence there,  on  July  27,  1857. 


THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND  1 5 

tion  for  the  whole  {das  Ganze),  he  felt  that  the  individual 
left  much  to  be  desired.^*  "England  is  large,  beautiful, 
elevating,  but  again  also  small,  narrow  and  tiresome.  The 
outer  man  has  advanced  further  there,  every  sort  of  public 
effect  flourishes  and  makes  us  seem  mere  bunglers.  .  .  .  But 
inwardly  we  are  ahead  of  them  and  probably  the  first  of  all."^^ 
Nevertheless  the  desire  to  make  the  most  of  his  opportunities 
for  rounding  out  his  education  made  Fontane  want  to  spend 
a  considerable  period  of  time  in  England  and  made  him,  as 
we  have  seen,  loath  to  return  to  Berlin  in  the  fall  of  1852. 
He  is  firmly  convinced  that  the  apprenticeship  which  he  felt 
he  had  to  serve  in  England  is  absolutely  necessary  for  his 
later  life  at  home.  It  is  the  realization  of  this  fact  that 
rendered  the  disagreeable  aspect  of  his  London  residence 
endurable.^®  However  after  the  collapse  of  the  Manteuffel 
ministry  he  was  glad  to  return  home.  Fontane  felt  that 
however  much  he  loved  London,  he  remained  after  all  a 
stranger  there.^^ 

The  author's  experiences  abroad,  unpleasant  though  they 
were  at  times,  gave  him  a  deep  insight  into  life.  He  looked 
upon  his  journalistic  work  even  in  Germany  as  of  particular 
social  value  and  as  an  antidote  to  the  one-sidedness  and  the 
common  German  fault  of  over-estimating  art  at  the  expense 
of  life,  for  in  London  he  had  life  itself,  no  longer  the  mere 
description  of  it.^^ 

Especially  in  his  later  years  in  England  Fontane  added 
greatly  to  his  knowledge  of  mankind.  With  Julius  Faucher, 
a  former  member  of  the  Lenau  Club,  he  inspected  all  grades 

"Letter,  Oct.  18.  1852.     W,  2,  X,  51. 

"Letter  to  Wolfsohn,  Nov.  16,  1852,  in  Theodor  Fontanes  Briefwechsel  mit 
Wilhelm  Wolfsohn,  S.  102. 

i«  Letter,  Sept.  18,  1857.     W.  2,  VI,  93. 

17  W,  2,  III,  140. 

18  Letter,  April  25,  1856.     W,  2,  X,  145. 


l6       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

of  London  life,  from  the  haunts  of  criminals  to  a  wedding 
of  royalty.  He  also  renewed  his  acquaintance  with  Max 
M tiller  and  associated  with  a  number  of  liberals  who  had 
left  Germany  in  1848.  During  his  first  summer  in  London 
the  young  author  seems,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  to  have 
had  some  idea  of  remaining  in  England,  if  fortune  should 
favor  him  there  ;^^  but  in  the  course  of  his  second  residence 
abroad  he  came  to  the  realization  that  his  mission  was  to  be 
fulfilled  at  home.  He  had  developed  the  self-confidence  and 
obtained  the  perspective  over  his  career  which  became  im- 
portant influences  in  guiding  him  finally  into  the  purely 
literary  field.  So  when  the  Manteufi^el  ministry  fell  in  1859 
Fontane  had  already  become  tired  of  the  journalistic  grind 
and  was  not  sorry  to  give  up  his  position  in  England.  He 
writes  to  Merckel  ^o  that  the  London  atmosphere  is  not  fav- 
orable for  creative  work.  Moreover,  he  preferred  an  in- 
dependent existence  to  a  safe,  subaltern  position  with  some 
ministry  .2^ 

The  most  valuable  feuilleton  papers  which  Fontane  sent 
to  various  journals  during  his  residence  in  England  he  col- 
lected and  published  in  three  books.^^  The  first  of  these 
volumes,  Ein  Sommer  in  London,^  contains  the  poet's  ex- 
periences and  impressions  gained  in  1852.  In  i860  there 
followed  Jenseit  des  Tweed,  Bilder  und  Briefe  aus  Schottland 
18^8-^Qy^  containing  a  description  of  the  trip  Fontane  made 
with  his  intimate  friend  Bernhard  von  Lepel  in  August, 
1858.^^     These  two  books  were  finally  brought  together  in 

1*  Cf.  Fontane's  letter  to  his  father,  July  i,  1852,  published  with  his  English 
diary  for  1852  in  the  Neue  Rundschau.  1914.  Vol.  XXV,  Heft  10,  Se.  1385-1408. 

20  Feb.  18.  1858.   Dr.  Mario  Krammer,  Theodor  Fontanes  engere  Welt,  Ss.  2.6. 

21  Letter,  Nov.  6,  1858,     W.  2,  VI,  99. 

22  It  is  significant  that  no  political  feuilleton  was  considered  worth  reprinting. 
"  1854.  Katz,  Dessau. 

"  Julius  Springer,  Berlin. 

»  Cf.  letter,  Sept.  17,  1858.     W,  2,  VI,  97. 


THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND  1 7 

one  volume  under  the  title  Aus  England  und  Schottland.^^ 
The  third  volume  of  essays  from  Fontanels  English  period 
includes  papers  written  during  the  poet's  last  residence  in 
England  (i  855-1 859)  and  appearing  in  the  Beilagen  and 
feuilletons  of  various  journals.  This  book  was  published  in 
i860  under  the  title  Aus  England.  Studien  und  Brief e  iiber 
Londoner  Theater,  Kunst  und  Presse.^"^  The  first  part  of  the 
volume:  "Die  Londoner  Theater,  Insonderheit  mit  Riick- 
sicht  auf  Shakespeare,"  is  devoted  to  reports  on  the  Shake- 
spearian productions  of  the  London  stage.  In  these  essays 
Fontane  takes  up  English  and  German  methods  of  producing 
Shakespeare.  The  second  part  of  "Aus  England"  contains 
a  discussion  of  English  painters  in  connection  with  the  Man- 
chester Art  Exhibition  in  i^^y.^^  In  the  third  part  of  the 
volume  Fontane  treats  the  London  weeklies  and  dailies. 
The  only  essays  in  this  book  which  have  been  deemed  worthy 
of  preservation  are  those  on  the  London  stage.^^ 

The  collection  of  the  feuilletons  Aus  England  und  Schott- 
land  we  shall  examine  at  some  length.    The  papers  on  England 
give  a  fairly  complete  and  final  idea  of  Fontane's  attitude 
toward  English  life,  showing  his  admiration  for  one  phase 
of  it  and  his  dislike  of  another.    Moreover,  in  this  collection 
we  find  features  which  appear  as  characteristics  of  the  authox's 
later  works.     Chief  among  these  is   Fontane's  interest  in 
psychology,  which  finds  ample  exercise  in  the  poet's  study 
of  English  traits  and  institutions.     The  papers  included  in 
the  second  group  of  essays  in  the  volume  Aus  England  und 
Schottland,  which  are  entitled  Jenseil  des  Tweed,  are  impor- 
ts 1900,  F.  Fontane.     W,  2,  IV. 
"  Ebner  and  Seubert,  Stuttgart. 
28  C/.  W,  2,  VI,  91,  note. 

2'  These  papers  have  been  published  in  one  volume  with  the  Critische  Cau- 
serien.  W,  2,  VIII.  For  a  discussion  of  the  feuilletons  on  English  painting  and 
press  cf.  Wandrey,  op.  cit.,  p.  74  f. 


1 8  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

tant  since  they  exhibit  the  author's  enthusiasm  for  Walter 
Scott  and  the  romantic  past  of  Scotland.  In  addition,  they 
explain  the  origin  of  the  Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark  Brand- 
enburg, the  poet's  first  important  literary  work,  the  studies 
for  which  he  was  to  begin  the  year  of  his  return  to  Germany. 

The  first  group  of  articles,  Ein  Sommer  in  London,  belongs, 
as  has  been  pointed  out,  to  the  poet's  first  stay  in  England. 
In  spite  of  the  realistic  accuracy  and  vividness  of  the  descrip- 
tions in  these  papers,  the  subject-matter  is  always  presented 
as  it  appeared  to  the  selective  eye  of  an  artist,  and  Fontane 
described  only  what  he  found  interesting.  The  papers  differ 
greatly  in  length,  and  their  content  is  as  varied  as  the  treat- 
ment, which  extends  from  circumstantial  description  in  such 
chapters  as  the  "Die  Kunst-Ausstellung"  to  a  lyric  effusion 
in  "Das  Leben  ein  Sturm."  In  many  of  the  articles  in  Ein 
Sommer  in  London  there  is  a  free  and  easy  mingling  of  the 
subjective  and  the  objective  which  would  suggest  the  title 
Stimmungshilder .  Even  as  early  as  this  the  poet  displays  his 
talent  for  delightful  chatting  (Plaudern).  Other  evidences 
of  the  later  writer  are  found  in  the  frequent  historical  excur- 
sions; and  the  gossipy,  anecdotal  treatment  of  the  past  betray 
the  future  author  of  the  Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark  Brand- 
enburg. 

A  number  of  the  feuilletons  in  Ein  Sommer  in  London 
deal  with  monuments,  public  buildings  and  works  of  art. 
The  author  is  impressed  by  the  massiveness  {Massenhaftig- 
keit)  and  the  solidity  of  English  life.  Noteworthy  is  his 
interest  in  the  great  Thames  bridges.  If  he  were  asked  to 
show  a  stranger  the  point  most  characteristic  of  city  and 
country,  he  would  direct  him  to  these  structures:  "These 
bridges  are  in  my  opinion  by  far  the  most  significant  things 
which  London  has  to  exhibit  in  the  way  of  structures.  I 
believe  that  I  have  found  the  reason  for  this  peculiar  phe- 


THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND  1 9 

nomenon  in  the  fact  that  the  English  people  possess  everything 
which  suffices  for  an  imposing  edifice, — calculation,  riches, 
endurance,  boldness, — but  lack  that  which  is  necessary  for 
the  creation  of  the  artistically  perfect:  taste  and  beauty." ^^ 

In  Westminster  Abbey  ^^  the  poet's  eye  and  imagination 
are  caught  by  the  effigies  of  the  rival  queens,  Mary  Stuart 
and  Elizabeth.  These  two  attract  him  again  in  the  Hampton- 
Court  picture  gallery .^^  j^  describing  the  Tower  ^^  and  the 
romantic-gruesome  history  of  its  celebrated  occupants  the 
balladist  is  on  congenial  ground.  In  Smithfield^  the  pictur- 
esque past  is  preferred  to  the  prosaic  present.  The  fact  that 
this  town  was  the  home  of  the  notorious  Emma  Lyons,  gives 
Fontane  an  excuse  for  sketching  the  career  of  the  adventuress. 
This  mode  of  sketching  biography  is  very  common  in  the 
Wanderungen. 

It  is  significant  that  Fontane  devoted  his  last  memorable 
day  in  England  to  a  visit  to  the  battlefield  of  Hastings, 
which  had  occupied  his  imagination  in  boyhood.  The  Eng- 
land of  daring  and  chivalry  is  far  more  congenial  to  the 
poet  than  the  modern  industrial  country.  Looking  back  on 
the  receding  cliffs  of  Dover,  he  exclaims:  "The  paddle 
wheels  revolved  more  quickly,  the  spray  dashed  higher,  the 
wind  blew  more  icily — the  last  light  was  extinguished — 
night  and  sea  round  about;  behind  me  lay  old  England 
and  this  day."*^ 

A  number  of  chapters  in  Ein  Sommer  in  London  are  devoted 
to  descriptions  of  English  manners  and  customs.  Psy- 
chological  analysis   Fontane  applied   in   his   imaginative  as 

30  P.  32. 

"  "The  Poet's  Corner." 

«  "Ein  Picknick  in  Hampton  Court." 

"  "Der  Tower." 

"  "Smithfield." 

«  P.  227. 


20       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

well  as  in  his  autobiographical  and  travel  works.  The  poet 
was  always  studying  people  as  types  or  as  members  of  races 
or  nations.^^  Consequently  we  seldom  find  in  these  feuilletons 
a  chapter  in  which  Fontane  does  not  present  the  scenes  and 
phenomena  observed  as  a  manifestation  of  national  traits. 
The  paper  "English  Pedantry"  ("Der  englische  Zopf").  gives 
a  picture  of  intimate  domestic  life,  illustrating  the  existence 
of  pretentious  manners,  even  among  plain  people.  In  the 
chapter  "Richmond"  the  poet  observes  during  a  Sunday 
trip  on  the  Thames  his  fellow  voyagers,  a  genuine  middle- 
class  English  family.  At  another  time^^  Fontane  himself  is 
one  of  a  party  of  picnickers  and  he  sketches  his  acquaint- 
ances, with  their  peculiarities  and  foibles,  with  a  delicacy 
and  charm  suggestive  of  similar  scenes  in  his  realistic  novels. 
In  another  chapter  ^^  a  graphic  description  of  an  election  in 
the  country  shows  the  poet's  lack  of  sympathy  with  such 
manifestations  of  popular  sovereignty  as  the  heckling  of 
speakers  and  the  vulgarity  of  the  crowd. 

In  Ein  Sommer  in  London  Fontane  gives  illuminating  flash- 
lights rather  than  a  systematic  presentation  of  English  life. 
As  a  keen  observer,  he  neglects  no  detail  of  life,  however 
small,  which  came  under  his  notice,  providing  it  seemed  to 
him  typical  or  symptomatic.  Now  it  is  street  bagpiper- 
minstrels  which  attract  his  attention,^*  now  the  variegated 
sights  of  London  as  seen  from  an  omnibus, *°  now  a  cricket 
match  between  crippled  veterans,  heroes  of  Trafalgar  and 
Aboukir.'*^     Dramatically  Fontane  describes  how  even  the 

3«When  a  prisoner  in  France, — cf.  Kriegsgefangen.  W,  2,  V,  112, — the  poet 
trotted  out  his  hobbies  to  while  away  the  time.  Among  these  was  the  study  of 
national  psychology. 

87  "Ein  Picknick  in  Hampton  Court." 

"  "Die  Middlesex- Wahl." 

8"  "Die  Musikmacher." 

*°  "Von  Hydepark-Corner  bis  London  Bridge." 

«  "Alte  Helden,  neue  Siege." 


THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND  21 

dregs  of  London  in  a  sailor  resort  respond  to  the  patriotic 
call:  "That  is  the  marrow  of  this  people,  national  down  to 
the  sailor's  wench.  Such  power  can  be  humbled,  but  not 
broken;    every  defeat  must  be  followed  by  a  rise."*^ 

Some  papers  in  this  collection  are  wholly  or  mainly  the- 
oretical— the  author  pauses  to  reflect  on  what  he  has  observed. 
Fontane  believes  that  the  "yellow  fever  of  money"  has 
poisoned  the  system  of  the  giant  England:  "Speculations, 
racing  and  the  chase  after  money,  arrogance,  when  this  has 
been  gained  (erjagt)  and  veneration  of  the  one  who  has 
gained  it, — the  whole  cult  of  the  golden  calf  is  the  great 
disease  of  the  English  people." ^^  Indeed,  Fontane  looks 
upon  Mid- Victorian  England  with  Thackeray's  eyes  and 
finds  snobbishness  and  the  mania  for  display  {Reprdsen- 
tationsgelilst)  rampant  everywhere.'*^ 

Political  democracy  meant  little  to  Fontane,  who  was  an 
essentially  unpolitical  nature,  social  democracy  he  missed 
entirely  in  England.  Here  the  contrast  of  English  with 
German  conditions  is  inevitable :  "The  German  lives  in  order 
to  live,  the  Englishman  lives  in  order  to  make  a  display. 
In  Germany  one  lives  happily  when  one  lives  comfortably 
(behaglich);  in  England,  when  one  is  envied.^  ....  The 
talk  about  freedom  and  equality  is  nowhere  less  a  phrase 
than  with  us.  We  have  no  political  democracy.  We  have 
classes,  but  no  English-Chinese  caste  spirit;  we  have  bar- 
riers but  no  chasm." ^^  In  Germany,  the  poet  continues, 
it  is  a  common  culture  which  forms  the  invisible  bond  unit- 

«P.  III. 
"  P.  90. 

"  The  author  refers  to  an  incident  mentioned  in  Vanity  Fair  to  support  his 
contention,  p.  213. 
«  P.  209. 
«  P.  213  f. 


22       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

ing  all  classes.  As  Wandrey  says,*^  this  criticism,  in  spite 
of  its  harshness,  does  not  seem  to  be  inspired  by  prejudice, 
because  Fontane  does  not  set  out  to  find  flaws.  The  poet 
was  convinced  of  England's  greatness  and  again  and  again 
conquered  by  its  magic  charm. 

In  Ein  Sommer  in  England  a  wide  variety  of  subjects  is 
treated,  as  the  emphasis  is  laid  on  man  and  on  the  present. 
In  Jenseit  des  Tweed,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  past  which 
occupies  the  foreground  of  the  author's  picture  of  the  north. 
Most  of  the  papers  of  this  collection  deal  with  historical 
monuments  or  with  pilgrimages  through  town  and  country 
to  places  hallowed  by  history  and  legend. 

Even  in  modern  Scotland*^  Fontane  felt  himself  immedi- 
ately in  a  more  congenial  atmosphere  than  in  England.  In 
this  primitive,  relatively  backward  nation  the  poet  was  more 
at  home,  for  conditions  here  approximated  those  of  his  native 
country.  The  same  seems  to  hold  true  of  the  Scotch  character. 
As  soon  as  the  traveler  crossed  the  Tweed  he  became  con- 
scious of  this  welcome  difference.  After  he  had  obtained  his 
first  glimpse  of  the  sights  of  Edinburgh  he  wrote:  "Every 
evening,  when  the  mists  begin  to  take  on  a  darker  hue  and 
the  gray-black  stone  wall  of  the  houses  gradually  blends 
with  the  gray-black  mists,  lights  suddenly  gleam  forth  from 
this  chaos  and  becoming  ever  brighter,  more  numerous,  they 
finally  gleam  through  the  shroud  (Hiille),  woven  of  night  and 
mist.  This  again  separates  from  its  dark  background  and 
hovers  like  a  transparent  veil  about  the  houses,  which  are 
growing  blacker  and  blacker.  When  then  the  horn-signals 
sound  down  from  the  castle  through  the  hushed  night,  a 
feeling  steals  over  us  that  the  whole  is  a  magic  creation, 

"  op.  cit.,  p.  72. 

*8  Fontane  admits  that  he  knew  little  of  the  achievements  of  modern  economic 
Scotland.    C/.  W.  2.  IV.  323. 


THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND  23 

which  a  sound  called  into  existence  and  which  must  vanish 
as  soon  as  the  last  tone  dies  out."'*^  The  poet  could  well 
have  placed  these  words  at  the  beginning  of  Jenseit  des  Tweed 
as  a  motto  for  these  feuilletons.  The  brightness  and  reality 
of  the  present  are  gradually  obliterated  by  the  darkness  and 
mists  of  olden  times,  until  finally  the  rays  of  legend  and 
poem  dispel  the  murkiness  by  their  enchanted  light. 

If  there  are  numerous  historical  and  anecdotal  excursions 
in  Ein  Sommer  in  London,  Jenseit  des  Tweed  fairly  bristles 
with  them.  Here  too  the  literary  allusions  are  commoner. 
Scott  and  Burns  are  quoted  several  times  in  translation,^^ 
and  Fontane  also  includes  his  version  of  several  old  Scotch 
ballads. ^^  It  must  be  remembered  that  while  the  poet  was 
abroad  his  interest  in  the  ballad  from  English  and  Scotch 
history  ran  parallel  to  his  journalistic  work.  Fontane's 
interest  in  Mary  Stuart,  manifested  even  on  his  first  brief 
trip  to  England  in  1844,  finds  ample  fuel  in  Scotland.  The 
poet  visits  Linlithgow,  where  Mary  was  born,  Holyrood 
palace,  where  she  lived,  and  Lochleven  castle,  where  she 
was  a  prisoner.  He  is  of  course  at  home  in  the  stories  of  the 
human  moths  who  were  scorched  by  her  flame.  The  name 
Douglas  also  has  an  enchanting  sound  for  Fontane.^^  In 
Edinburgh  he  finds  an  opportunity  to  relate  the  story  of 
"Cleanse  the  Causeway,"  the  feud  between  the  Douglases 
and  the  Hamiltons,  also  anecdotes  of  Archibald  Douglas, 
called  "Bell  the  Cat."  Again,  in  Sterling  Castle  it  is  Lord 
William  Douglas  who  gives  rise  to  an  historical  sketch,  while 

*^  Jenseit  des  Tweed,  S.  243, 

60  Cf.  above,  p.  8. 

"  Part  of  "Sir  Patrick  Spens,"  "Die  Schuster  von  Selkirk,"  the  first  strophes  of 
"Thomas  der  Reimer"  and  "The  Flowers  of  the  Forest." 

62  Note  the  number  of  poems  by  Fontane  celebrating  members  of  this  family. 


24  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

in  Melrose  Abbey  it  is  the  grave  of  James  Douglas  which 
leads  the  poet  to  narrate  the  ballad  of  "Chevy  Chase."" 

But  it  is  really  the  magic  name  of  Walter  Scott  which 
gives  unity  and  coherence  to  Jenseit  des  Tweed.  Thoroughly 
familiar  as  he  is  with  the  great  author,  Fontane  is  able  to 
let  him  "do  the  honors  for  all  Scotland."  A  hall  in  Holyrood 
Palace  where  the  Young  Pretender,  Charles  Stuart,  once 
gave  a  ball  reminds  the  poet  of  figures  in  Waverley.  The 
site  of  the  old  Tolbooth  prison  in  Edinburgh  evokes  an  al- 
lusion to  the  Heart  of  Midlothian.  In  examining  Lochleven 
Castle,  Fontane  recalls  that  Scott  in  his  Abbot  used  the  cellar 
as  a  smithy.  How  familiar  the  German  author  was  with 
Scotch  legends  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
able  to  add  items  to  his  cicerone's  knowledge  of  the  ballad- 
lore  connected  with  Lochleven. 

In  fact,  the  poet's  extensive  knowledge  of  at  least  the  more 
romantic  side  of  Scotch  history  is  shown  everywhere  in 
Jenseit  des  Tweed,  especially  when  his  route  leads  him  to 
battlefields.^  A  number  of  pages  are  devoted  to  the  romantic, 
semi-legendary  events  leading  up  to  the  battle  of  Flodden 
Field,  which  Scott  treated  in  Marmion. 

Even  the  topography  of  the  country  suggests  Scott.  The 
Trossachs  are  the  land  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake,  of  which 
Fontane  gives  a  detailed  analysis.  The  tourist  in  Perth  is 
reminded  of  a  novel  of  Scott :  "What  would  the  world  know 
of  Perth,  if  that  book  of  Sir  Walter's  had  remained  un- 
written."^^ 

In  dealing  with  Edinburgh's  ghost-haunted  houses,  Scott's 
passion  for  ghost  stories  is  recalled  and  an  anecdote  illus- 

63  Translated  by  Fontane  from  Percy's  Reliques  of  Ancient  Poetry.  Cf. 
above,  p.  7. 

"C/.  the  papers:   "Flodden-Field,"  "Culloden-Moor"  and  "Stirling  Castle." 
«  P.  391  f. 


THE  JOURNALIST  AND  ENGLAND  25 

trating  Sir  Walter's  attitude  toward  the  supernatural  re- 
counted.^ 

It  is  fitting  that  the  last  paper  in  Jenseit  des  Tweed  should 
be  devoted  to  a  pilgrimage  to  Abbotsford.  Although  the 
peculiar  taste  exhibited  in  this  architectural  medley,  the 
"romance  in  stone  and  mortar,"  inspired  Fontane  with  no 
enthusiasm,  he  could  not  help  prizing  highly  this  experience. 
"The  trip  to  Abbotsford  was  a  prilgrimage,  a  duty  fulfilled, 
an  expedition  to  which  the  heart  urged.  What  would  be  the 
fame  of  Scotland  without  the  phenomenon  of  Walter  Scott! 
He  has  collected  the  poems  of  his  country  and  made  its 
history  immortal  by  poems  of  his  own.  Abbotsford  remains 
the  place  where  the  "magic  tree  of  romanticism  put  forth  its 
most  beautiful  and  above  all  its  most  wholesome  blossoms."  ^^ 

On  his  trip  up  the  Forth  from  Edinburgh  to  Stirling  the 
eye  of  the  traveler  falls  everywhere  upon  historical  ground, 
and  great  names  are  conjured  up  from  the  past:  Morton, 
Moray,  Bruce,  Stuart,  etc.  This  reminds  Fontane  of  the 
historical  associations  of  the  country  at  home  watered  by 
the  Havel.  This  section  of  the  Mark  too  has  produced  great 
men :  its  Zietens,  Knesebecks  and  Humboldts — the  backbone 
of  the  Prussian  state,^^  Years  after,  the  author  recalled  the 
suggestive  power  of  the  Scottish  tour.  In  his  preface  to  the 
first  edition  of  the  first  volume  of  the  Wanderungen  durch  die 
Mark  Brandenburg  he  writes:  "Foreign  lands  first  teach  us 
what  we  possess  in  our  home.  I  have  learned  that  in  my  one 
case,  and  the  first  incentive  to  these  Wanderungen  durch  die 
Mark  Brandenburg  came  to  me  while  roaming  abroad."^* 
Further  suggestions  came  with  the  visit  to  Lochleven  Castle, 

"  "Spukhauser." 
"7  P.  521. 
"  P.  351  f. 
"  P.  V. 


26       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

with  its  reminiscences  of  Queen  Mary's  imprisonment  and 
romantic  escape.  Here  the  poet's  imagination  is  suddenly 
kindled  by  the  recollection  of  a  day  at  home  on  the  Rheins- 
berg  Lake,  which  also  had  its  castle  and  its  historical  associa- 
tions. "Such  was  the  picture  of  the  Rheinsberg  Castle,  which 
hovered  like  a  fata  morgana  over  Lake  Leven,  and  before  our 
boat  ran  on  to  the  sand  of  the  shore,  the  question  confronted 
me:  'Beautiful  as  was  the  picture  which  Lake  Leven  with 
its  island  and  its  Douglas  castle  unrolled  before  you,  was 
that  day  less  beautiful  when  you  went  over  the  Rheinsberg 
Lake  in  a  rowboat,  the  creations  and  the  memories  of  a  great 
time  about  you?'  and  I  answered,  'no.'"*^ 

Thus  the  journey  in  Scotland  forms  an  important  link  in 
in  the  chain  of  Fontane's  literary  activity.  For,  as  will  be 
evident  in  the  next  chapter,  the  Wanderungen  durch  die 
Mark  Brandenburg,  the  studies  for  which  he  began  as  early 
as  1859,  lead  naturally  to  his  first  novel,  Vor  dem  Sturm. 
If  the  valuable  experiences  of  his  London  residence  had  given 
Fontane  self-confidence  and  self-knowledge  and  consequent 
dissatisfaction  with  his  more  or  less  mechanical  occupation, 
the  Scotch  trip  in  1858  pointed  the  way  clearly  to  literary 
work  at  home. 

The  year  after  his  return  home  from  England  Fontane 
gave  a  series  of  lectures  on  English  and  Scotch  literature, 
art  and  institutions.  The  subjects  of  the  addresses,  as  given 
in  a  letter  toWolfsohn,^^  are :  (i)  Whigs  and  Tories,  (2)  Englische 
Presse  und  Times,  (3)  Englische  Historienmalerei,  (4)  Tenny- 
son und  Longfellow,  (5)  Oxford  und  englische  Universitaten, 
(6)  Hochland  und  die  Hochlander,  (7)  Englisch-Schottische 
Volkspoesie. 

•«  Ibid.,  p.  VII. 

"  Dec.  8.  1859.    Theodor  Fontanes  Briefwechsel  mit  Wilhelm  Wolfsohn,  S.  126. 


CHAPTER  III 

FONTANE'S    CONCEPTION    OF    THE    HISTORICAL 

NOVEL,  WITH  PARTICULAR  REFERENCE 

TO  SCOTT 

The  influence  of  Scott  in  Germany  in  the  nineteenth  century 
was  greater  than  that  of  any  other  foreign  writer.^  In  1815 
translations  of  the  Waverley  Novels  begin  to  appear  and  from 
1820  to  1830  Scott  is  by  far  the  most  brilliant  star  in  the 
literary  firmament.  Imitations  soon  make  their  appearance. 
In  1823  Alexis  passes  off  Walladmor,  in  1827  Schloss  Avalon 
as  free  translations  of  the  author  of  Waverley.  In  1826  Tieck's 
Aufruhr  in  den  Cevennen,  Spindler's  Bastard,  Zschokke's 
Addrich  im  Moos  and  Hauff's  Lichtenstein,  were  published,  all 
definitely  in  Scott's  manner .^ 

It  is  the  combination  of  romanticism,  realism  and  Heimal- 
kunst  that  made  Scott  so  popular  in  Germany,  but  it  is  as  the 
realistic  portrayer  of  the  customs  and  variegated  types  of  his 
countrymen  that  the  novelist  had  the  most  beneficent  influence 
on  serious  writers.  This  is  the  phase  of  Scott's  activity  that 
Julian  Schmidt,  a  warm  advocate  of  English  literature,  espe- 
cially of  Scott,  commended  to  Germans.  Mielke  writes  of 
Scott :  "He  sought  his  models  .  .  .  not  in  the  higher  social 
spheres,  where  the  forms  of  society  (Sitte)  take  the  place  of 
naturalness  and  where  the  law  of  prudence  and  good  manners 
subdues  passions.  He  studied  life  and  human  character  rather 

*  Julian  Schmidt,  Bilder  aus  dent  geistigen  Lehen  unserer  Zeit.   Vol.  I,  S.  149. 
2  Ihid.,  p.  237. 

27 


28       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

among  the  lower  classes  of  his  home :  the  farmers  and  peasants 
with  their  rough,  wholesome  joyousness,  their  humorous 
peculiarities,  their  hot-headed  pugnacity.  Those  are  his  models 
and  they  themselves  he  has  depicted  perhaps  most  happily."  • 

Schmidt  divides  the  Waverley  Novels  into  two  classes: 
(i)  those  based  on  the  study  of  history,  of  the  type  of  Ivanhoe 
(1819),  (2)  those  based  on  oral  tradition  and  observation,  of 
the  type  of  Guy  Mannering  (181 5).  Scott's  popularity  on  the 
continent  begins  with  the  first  class.'* 

It  was  easy  for  the  many  hack  writers  who  followed  Scott  to 
copy  the  externals  of  their  master's  technique:  archaisms, 
bizarre  costumes,  mysterious  characters,  romantic  adventures, 
etc.^  Unlike  these  Vielschreiber,  however,  the  serious  followers 
of  Scott  in  Germany  usually  possessed  a  national  basis.  Hauff 
turns  to  Wiirttemberg  history  in  Lichtenstein;  H.  Zschokke,  to 
Swiss  history  in  Addrich  im  Moos;  and  Alexis,  to  the  past  of  the 
Mark  Brandenburg  in  his  Vaterldndische  Romanes 

In  preparing  to  discuss  Fontane  as  a  follower  of  Scott,  we 
must  first  consider  the  relationship  of  his  predecessor  Alexis  to 
the  British  master.  Alexis,  in  contradistinction  to  the  other 
imitators  of  Scott  in  Germany,  profited  from  the  total  concep- 
tion (Gesammtauffassung)  of  his  work,  and  not  merely  from 
certain  points  in  his  historical  technique.  He  felt  that  Scott's 
aim  was  to  give  an  heroic  biography  of  Scotland.  Thus  Alexis 
in  a  series  of  novels  develops  an  heroic  history  of  Prussia.'' 
Moreover,  Alexis  has  learned  a  realistic  style  from  Scott's 

»  Mielke,  Der  deutsche  Roman,  S.  6i. 

*  J.  Schmidt,  op.  cit.,  p.  226. 

*  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that  Scott,  unlike  the  average 
German  romanticist  usually  preserved  an  objective  attitude  toward  even  his 
more  conventional  romantic  machinery. 

*  Mielke,  op.  cit.,  p.  64. 

^  R.  M.  Meyer,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Literalur.     Bd.  II,  S.  160. 


CONCEPTION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  NOVEL  29 

realistic  peasants.  Of  all  the  followers  of  Scott  in  Germany  it 
was  he  who  profited  most  from  the  enduring  virtues  of  his 
master.  He  sketches  for  us  with  greater  realism  of  detail  the 
topography  of  the  country  which  he  makes  the  scene  of  his 
novels  and  he  explains  modern  conditions  as  the  outgrowth  of 
earlier  ones  which  he  describes.  Besides,  the  viewpoint  in  his 
novels  is  modern.^ 

Julian  Schmidt  puts  his  finger  on  the  reason  why  Alexis  with 
all  his  excellencies  has  not  enjoyed  greater  popularity  in 
Germany.  "Wilibald  Alexis  lacks  but  little  of  assuming  for  his 
native  country,  Prussia,  the  place  of  a  W.  Scott,  but  this  little 
is  to  be  sure  decisive.  The  Romantic  School,  especially  Hoff- 
mann, had  a  decisive  influence  on  his  training  as  a  youth.  His 
stories  contain  fantastic,  often  grotesque  figures  and  uncanny 
situations,  mixed  with  long  conversations  about  art  and  liter- 
ature." » 

This  opinion  should  be  supplemented  by  Fontane's  woids  at 
the  end  of  his  essay  on  Alexis:  "Wilibald  Alexis  in  his  whole 
aspect :  in  his  mixture  of  realism  and  romanticism,  in  the  detail 
of  his  research,  in  the  intricacy  of  his  investigations,  in  the 
endlessness  of  his  dialogues  (witty  as  they  are),  could  not  and 
will  not  be  popular.  The  awkwardness  of  his  style, — which 
some  would  like  to  glorify  as  Vuggedness  of  character,' — 
speaks  the  final  decisive  word  and  sets  the  seal  of  certainty 
upon  his  non-popular  nature."  ^^ 

Having  completed  the  review  of  Alexis  as  a  follower  of  Scott, 
we  will  consider  briefly  how  Fontane  observed  the  Scott  tra- 
dition as  a  poet  of  the  Mark  Brandenburg.  In  this  respect 
there  is  a  certain  justification  in  associating  Alexis  and  Fon- 

8  Julian  Schmidt  in  the  Grenzboten.     Ill,  487. 

*  Julian  Schmidt,  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Literatur  im  IQ.  Jahrhundert.  Bd. 
Ill,  253  f.  This  reference  and  that  in  note  eight  are  cited  by  Price,  op.  cit.,  p.  502. 
low,  2,  IX,  218.   However,  Fontane  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Alexis. 


30       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

tane  and  in  calling  the  latter  a  follower  of  the  former.  Both 
poets  treated  almost  exclusively  subject-matter  drawn  from 
life  in  Berlin  and  the  Mark  Brandenburg.  Both  cultivated  the 
novel  and  the  ballad  and  both  began  by  imitating  old  English 
poems. ^^  Nevertheless  there  are  striking  and  fundamental  dif- 
ferences between  the  two  novelists.  Whereas  Alexis  follows  the 
history  of  Prussia  down  through  the  centuries  in  his  Vaierldn- 
dische  Romane,  Fontane  wrote  only  two  historical  novels,  Vor 
dem  Sturm  and  Schach  von  Wuthenow,  both  dealing  with  the 
Napoleonic  era.  However,  if  we  add  to  these  two  novels  Fon- 
tanels patriotic  historical  ballads  and  his  Wanderungen  durch 
die  Mark  Brandenburg,  the  sum  total  exhibits  a  spirit  of  devo- 
tion to  the  history  of  the  Mark  Brandenburg  comparable  with 
that  found  in  Alexis'  series  of  novels.  Fontane  depicts  in  his 
ballads  many  dramatic  scenes  from  Prussian  history.  As 
Zillmann  says:  "From  the  early  Middle  Ages  on  down  into  the 
new  empire  until  the  turn  of  the  century  the  poet's  song  ac- 
companies the  great  events  of  his  native  country,  and  so  too 
the  composition  of  these  poems  extends  over  about  half  a 
century."  ^^  in  the  Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark  Brandenburg 
Fontane  likewise  finds  many  opportunities  to  do  what  Alexis 
does  in  his  patriotic  novels,  viz.,  to  familiarize  the  natives  of 
Brandenburg  with  the  history  of  their  country. ^^ 

In  spite  of  the  activity  of  Alexis  and  Fontane  as  poets  of  the 
Mark  Brandenburg,  Tschirch  believes  that  we  have  no  right 
to  designate  Fontane  simply  a  pupil  of  Alexis :  ".  .  .  how- 
ever little  we  can  deny  the  influence  which  the  precedence  of 

"  Tschirch,  op.  cit.,  p.  224. 

12  Op.  cit.,  p.  60. 

18  It  is  in  the  Wanderungen  too  that  we  find  another  point  of  contact  between 
Alexis  and  Fontane,  viz.,  in  depicting  the  scenic  beauties  of  the  country.  Fon- 
tane is  "a  Columbus  of  the  landscape  of  the  Mark,  the  prophet  of  which  was 
Alexis."  R.  M.  Meyer,  op.  cit.,  Bd.  II,  S.  392. 


CONCEPTION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  NOVEL  3 1 

the  first  specifically  mdrkisch  author  must  have  had  on  Fon- 
tane,  the  latter  has  himself  declared  that  he  never  came  into 
close  contact  with  Haring  and  that  he  acquired  (a  more  inti- 
mate) acquaintance  with  his  works  only  in  his  later  years."  ^* 
From  Fontane's  criticism  of  the  novel  contained  in  a  number 
of  articles,  some  of  which  have  been  brought  together  in  the 
posthumous  volume  ^W5  dem  Nachlass  under  the  title  "Litera- 
rische  Studien  und  Eindrucke,"^^  we  can  form  a  fairly  complete 
idea  of  the  poet's  attitude  toward  Scott  the  novelist.  It  is 
surprising  to  note  how  many  times  the  name  of  Scott  is  in- 
voked to  prove  or  illustrate  some  point  which  the  writer  wishes 
to  make.  In  the  essay  on  Alexis,  our  author  compares  certain 
aspects  of  the  work  of  Alexis  and  Scott,  usually  giving  prefer- 
ence to  the  art  of  the  British  writer.  Of  the  two,  Scott  is  the 
richer  personality.  "As  it  is  written  in  a  Scotch  proverb: 
'a  king's  face  shall  give  grace',  so  too  Sir  Walter  gave  happiness 
and  favor  wherever  he  looked  ...  he  bore  a  cornucopia, 
inexhaustible,  because  his  love,  his  rich  talent  and  the  happi- 
ness which  is  always  with  the  good  and  the  cheerful  filled  it 
ever  anew."  ^^  In  the  treatment  of  history  Fontane  recognizes 
Scott  as  the  more  artistic,  freer  writer:  "He  knew  every  mo- 
ment that  he  was  not  a  historian  (Historiker) ,  but  only  a 
story-teller  (Geschichtenerzdhler)  "  ^"^  Furthermore,  Scott  was 
not  oppressed  by  the  weight  of  his  subject-matter.  "He  was 
above  things.  Wilibald  Alexis,  not  counting  a  few  exceptions, 

1*  op.  cit.,  p.  224.  This  statement  of  Fontane  regarding  his  relation  to  Alexis  I 
have  not  been  able  to  find  in  Fontane's  writings.  Hence  it  would  seem  to  have 
been  made  to  Tschirch  orally. 

"  W,  2,  IX,  169-312.  The  long  essay,  "Wilibald  Alexis"  first  appeared  in  1873 
in  Julius  Rodenberg's  Salon.  Vol.  X.  Heft  10-12.  The  other  critiques,  as  far  as 
they  were  published,  appeared  in  the  Vossische  Zeitung  in  the  seventies  and 
eighties. 

16  Ibid.,  p.  213. 

"P.  215. 


32       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

was  always  right  in  the  midst  of  them."  ^®  This  dependence  on 
his  sources  and  this  painful  industry,  Fontane  notes,  account 
for  beauties  in  certain  details  of  Alexis*  novels,  but  also  explain 
the  lack  of  that  sunshine  that  illuminates  the  historical  parts 
of  Scott's  novels. 

Fontane's  theory  regarding  the  period  which  a  novel  may 
portray  likewise  follows  the  practice  in  Scott's  novels  very 
closely.  He  finds  it  very  characteristic  that  Scott  began  his 
Waverley  series  not  with  Ivanhoe  (1196),  a  story  of  the  Cru- 
sades, but  with  Waverley  (1745),  to  which  he  purposely  added 
the  subtitle  "Sixty  years  since."  The  critic  believed  that  in 
Scott's  best  novels  the  action  takes  place  within  the  eighteenth 
century  or  at  its  beginning.^^  Hence  Fontane's  definition  of  the 
novel :  "The  novel  should  be  a  picture  of  the  time  to  which  we 
ourselves  belong,  at  least  the  reflection  of  a  life  at  the  border 
of  which  we  ourselves  still  stood  or  about  which  our  parents 
related."  20 

After  considering  in  his  essay  on  Alexis  the  treatment  of 
history  in  the  historical  novel,  Fontane  takes  up  the  romanti- 
cism of  Scott  and  Alexis.^^  Scott  is  an  Altromantiker,  Alexis  a 
Neuromantiker.  "The  former  adhered  to  the  Scotch — English 
ballad,  to  the  folksong,  to  the  romances  of  the  Middle  Ages; 
the  latter  adhered  to  romanticism  as  Tieck  and  Hoffmann 
conceived  and  shaped  it."   Anything  savoring  of  mysticism, 

1«P.  215- 

"/Wd.,  p.  238  flf.  Essay,  "Gustav  Freytag,  Die  Ahnen."  I-III,  Published  in 
the  Voss.  Ztg.  Beil.,  1875-  Nos.  7  and  8. 

*"  Ibid.,  p.  242,  Fontane  concedes  that  it  is  possible  to  treat  more  remote  ages 
in  certain  limited  cases,  viz.,  in  (i)  the  dramatic  novel,  where  the  interest,  as  in 
the  drama,  is  concentrated  on  the  passions  of  a  few  figures.  Examples  of  this 
class  are  the  poet's  own  Crete  Minde  and  Ellernklipp;  (2)  the  romantic  novel, 
since  the  world  of  fantasy  does  not  change;  (3)  the  historical  novel  in  exceptional 
cases,  viz.,  when  we  can  consider  the  author  as  a  posthumous  (nachgeboren) 
son  of  preceding  centuries. 

"  P.  ai";. 


CONCEPTION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  NOVEL  33 

vagueness  or  romantic  irony  was  foreign  to  Fontane's  nature. 
On  the  other  hand  romanticism  in  the  broader  sense  of  the 
word  always  formed  an  essential  element  in  his  work.  If  it  is 
possible  to  find  traces  of  German  romanticism  in  Vor  dem 
Sturm,  it  is  very  easy  to  discover  the  influence  of  the  roman- 
ticism of  Scott  and  the  old  ballads  in  several  of  Fontane's 
novels.  The  author's  long  occupation  with  the  British  ballad 
had  strengthened  this  liking  for  the  romantic.  "I  retired  with 
Mary  Stuart  and  arose  with  Archibald  Douglas.  The  roman- 
tically fantastic  (Romantisch-Phantastische)  delighted  me  from 
youth  on."  ^  In  fact,  as  late  as  1895  the  poet  planned  the  com- 
position of  a  fantastic  romantic  novel.  His  reading  of  the 
Waver  ley  Novels  had  naturally  added  fuel  to  this  fire. 

For  Fontane,  style  was  a  very  important  consideration,  with 
broad  implications.  He  contrasts  this  point  in  Scott  and  Alexis. 
"One  is  easy  and  smooth,  the  other  heavy  and  rugged;  the 
dialogues  of  one  resemble  a  sleigh  ride  over  well-packed  snow, 
the  other  the  passage  of  a  coach  of  state  through  the  sand  of 
the  Mark."  ^^  Fontane  expresses  great  admiration  for  the 
ease  and  charm  of  Scott's  style,  as  shown  particularly  in  the 
British  author's  introductions.  Referring  especially  to  the 
Heart  of  Midlothian,  which  he  was  reading  at  the  time,  he  writes 
in  1868:  ".  .  .  the  point  in  which  the  best  fail,  is  given  here 
with  an  ease  and  charm,  with  so  much  grace  and  humor  that 
it  replaces  a  chat  with  a  beloved  and  witty  person."  ^  This  is 
the  highest  praise  that  the  causeur  Fontane  can  give  to  the 
style  of  an  author.  In  Fontane's  estimation,  the  style  of  Gott- 
fried Keller  leaves  much  to  be  desired.  A  good  writer,  accord- 
ing to  Fontane,  does  not  thrust  his  own  personality  (as  does 
Keller)  between  the  reader  and  the  object  described,  but  on 

22  Letter,  April  15,  1891.  W,  2,  XI,  262. 

23"Wilibald  Alexis,"  S.  216. 

2*  Letter,  Aug.  28,  1868.     W,  2,  VI,  156. 


34       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

the  contrary,  allows  the  object  itself,  as  it  were,  to  speak."  * 
This  objectivity  Fontane  does  find  in  Scott.  In  1868,  after 
having  finished  a  reading  of  the  Heart  of  Midlothian,  the  poet 
exclaims:  "There  extends  throughout  the  whole  novel,  to  pass 
over  a  hundred  other  merits,  a  gift  for  having  people  say  what 
is  natural,  what  is  always  correct,  which,  if  we  leave  out 
Shakespeare  and  Goethe,  no  one  else  has.  I  find  this  the 
greatest."  ^^  Thus  Fontane  ranks  Jeanie  Deans  much  higher 
than  the  heroine  of  Hermann  und  Dorothea.  The  former  has 
the  charm  of  depth  of  feeling  (Herzenstiefe)  and  complete 
genuineness  of  expression,  and  unlike  Goethe's  character,  she 
may  really  have  spoken  as  Scott  has  her  speak.^^ 

The  dialogues  in  Scott,  of  which  Fontane  shows  such  admir- 
ation, occupy  a  large  and  important  place  in  the  Waverley 
Novels.  Among  the  Scottish  novelist's  many  highly  original, 
realistic  figures,  especially  from  the  lower  classes, — gossips, 
pedants,  servants,  etc., — each  has  a  characteristic  manner  of 
expression.  In  view  of  Fontane's  outspoken  admiration  for 
Scott's  realistic  manner  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  in  his 
period  of  apprenticeship  he  learned  not  a  little  from  the  dia- 
logues of  the  author  of  Waverley.  Indeed,  with  Fontane  this  is 
of  great  significance,  for  as  years  and  practice  bring  maturity 
of  style,  it  is  precisely  in  the  conversation  of  his  characters  that 
he  becomes  a  virtuoso. 

Another  point  in  the  Waverley  Novels  which  Fontane  ex- 
tolls  is  their  humour.  This  he  regards  as  a  natural  expression 
of  the  personality  of  the  author,  who  is  the  Grosshumorist, 
because  he  was  himself  great  and  free  and  occupied  an  exalted 

""Otto  Brahms'  Gottfried  Keller."  W,  2,  IX,  255  if.  Published  in  Voss. 
Ztg.  Beil.  1883.  No.  14. 

2«  Letter,  Sept.  2,  1868. 

*^  "Hermann  und  Dorothea,"  an  essay  unpublished  during  Fontane's  life- 
time, written  in  the  middle  of  the  seventies.     W,  2,  IX,  220. 


CONCEPTION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  NOVEL  35 

position  in  life.  Alexis,  being  no  Olympian,  could  lay  claim 
only  to  Kleinhumor.  "Humor  has  a  necessary  preliminary 
condition,  the  supremacy  over,  the  supremely  sovereign  play 
with  the  phenomena  of  this  life  upon  which  it  looks  down."  ^s 

Let  us  now  observe  how  far  Fontane  has  applied  these 
theories  of  novelistic  technique  in  his  long  historical  novel 
Vor  dem  Sturm,  and  how  far  he  has  approached  Scott  in  the 
treatment  of  his  subject-matter. 

This  first  effort  in  fiction  the  author  carried  in  his  mind  some 
years  before  he  began  to  write.  In  1866  he  claims  that  he  had 
the  subject  in  mind  for  ten  years.^^  This  would  date  the  con- 
ception of  the  work  during  the  poet's  last  residence  in  England, 
at  a  time  when  he  was  very  much  under  British  influence. 

In  reviewing  points  of  technique  in  Vor  dem  Sturm,  Fontane 
writes  to  his  pubhsher  giving  a  broad  characterization  of  the 
plan  of  the  novel.  He  is  not  concerned  with  the  rules  which  his 
work  is  to  follow.  "Rather  I  have  undertaken  to  create  the 
work  entirely  according  to  my  own  ideas,  {ganz  nach  mir 
selbst) ,  according  to  my  opinion  and  individuality,  without  any 
model;  even  the  indebtedness  to  Scott  concerns  only  very 
general  points.  .  .  Without  murder  and  fire  and  great 
stories  of  passion,  I  have  simply  set  out  to  present  a  great 
number  of  figures  in  the  Mark  .  .  .  from  the  winter  of 
1812-1813.  .  .  I  was  not  concerned  with  conflicts,  but  with 
the  description  of  how  the  great  emotion,  born  at  that  time, 
found  and  affected  men  of  the  most  different  kinds."  ^^ 

Of  the  eighty-two  chapters  of  Vor  dem  Sturm  but  few  de- 
velop any  action  or  plot.  The  first  part  of  the  novel,  which 
deals  with  Hohen-Vietz,  contains  only  description, — portraits 

28  "Wilibald  Alexis,"  S.  217. 

29  Letter,  Aug.  11,  1866.  W,  2,  X,  252.  According  to  a  letter  of  Feb.  11,  1896, 
W,  2,  XI,  371,  the  first  chapters  were  written  in  the  winter  of  1863-64. 

3"  Letter.  June  17,  1866.     W,  2,  X,  246. 


36       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

of  Berndt  von  Vitzewitz,  his  household  and  characteristic 
figures  in  the  village.  Then  the  scene  is  shifted  to  the  neigh- 
boring Guse,  the  residence  of  Berndt 's  sister  Am^lie,  and  we 
are  introduced  in  the  same  way  to  the  countess  and  her 
friends.^^  The  presence  of  Lewin  in  Hohen-Vietz,  whither  he 
has  come  for  the  Christmas  holidays,  gives  a  certain  unity  to 
the  first  part  of  the  novel.  With  the  hero's  return  to  Berlin, 
where  he  is  living  as  a  student,  the  second  part  begins.  Here 
the  central  action  is  advanced  in  spite  of  numerous  episodes 
and  digressions,  and  Lewin's  love  story  is  developed.  In  the 
last  part  of  the  novel,  the  political  plot,  the  popular  uprising 
against  the  French,  staged  by  Berndt,  developed  in  conversa- 
tion in  earlier  parts  of  the  story,  is  ended  by  the  unsuccessful 
attack  on  the  French  garrison  in  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  At 
the  same  time  Lewin,  cured  of  his  love  for  his  cousin  by  chas- 
tening experiences,  marries  his  old  playmate. 

This  review  of  the  meager  plot  shows  that  in  accordance 
with  his  plan  the  author  places  the  emphasis  in  his  first  novel 
on  character-drawing.  He  has  given  a  large  gallery  of  por- 
traits ranging  all  the  way  from  shepherd  boy  to  prince,  and 
including  a  sturdy  Junker,  a  cynical-original  general,  a  pious 
Moravian  housekeeper,  a  witch-like  hag,  peasants  and  trades- 
people, clergymen  and  poets. ^^ 

In  order  to  characterize  the  work  accurately,  the  author 
originally  wished  to  give  Vor  dem  Sturm  the  subtitle  Zeit-  und 
Sittenhild  aus  dem  Winter  1812-13,  but  his  publisher  demurred, 
and  Fontane  then  substituted  Roman  aus  dem  Winter  1812  auf 
181  J.  The  novelist  wished  to  present  the  patriotic  enthusiasm 
awakening  among  the  Germans  at  that  time.    Therefore  he 

31  To  be  sure  Chaps.  XXIX,  XXXI,  XXXII  and  XXXIV  contain  action,  but 
it  is  of  an  episodic  nature,  dealing  with  the  depredations  of  bandits,  and  does 
not  really  advance  the  movement  of  the  story. 

"Fontane  uses  the  term  Portr&tgallerie  in  Chap.  XX  to  characterize  his 
method  of  describing  the  friends  of  Countess  Pudagla. 


CONCEPTION  OF  THE  HISTORICAL  NOVEL  37 

objected  to  Heyse's  statement  that  the  center  of  gravity  in  his 
novel  was  in  the  descriptive  parts  of  the  work  and  asserted  that 
if  his  book  was  to  be  successful,  the  success  would  be  due  to 
certain  chapters  in  which  the  political  and  patriotic  predom- 
inated.^^ But  Fontane's  own  words  cannot  change  the  fact 
that  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  book  is  far  from  the  political 
parts.  Even  in  the  chapters  mentioned,  as  Wandrey  points 
out,^  we  are  given  a  dialogue  which  revolves  around  the  dis- 
tress of  the  time  rather  than  direct  accounts  of  the  distress 
itself.  Only  the  few  chapters  at  the  end  of  the  novel,  devoted  to 
the  Frankfort  military  engagement,  contain  strictly  historical 
action.   But  these  too  really  serve  for  character  portrayal. ^^ 

Important  historical  figures  do  not  appear  as  actors  in  Vor 
dem  Sturm,  though  they  usually  occupy  the  center  of  episode 
or  anecdote.^^  Moreover,  Fontane  takes  the  knowledge  of 
eminent  historical  events  and  persons  for  granted. 

Vor  dem  Sturm  consists  to  a  large  extent  of  a  number  of 
"interiors"  of  the  time  as  a  background  for  portraits.  In 
Hohen-Vietz  we  are  taken  to  the  manor-house,  the  church, 
the  inn,  the  parsonage,  the  magistrate's  home,  etc.  In  Berlin 
we  overhear  citizens  discussing  politics  at  a  resort,  we  attend  a 
lecture  by  Fichte,  a  meeting  of  Lewin's  literary  society,  etc. 
Thus,  while  the  specifically  political  is  not  treated  as  an  end  in 

«3 Letter,  Dec.  i,  1878. 

^Op.  cit.,  p.  119. 

3^  "Die  (Jberrumpelung  der  franzosischen  Garnison,  die  Frankfurt  besetzt 
halt,  wird  als  einzige  kriegerische  Aktion  vorgefiihrt.  Aber  das  Interesse  an  den 
Menschen  ist  durch  die  immer  wachsende  Bedeutung,  die  ihnen  im  Gefiige  des 
Romans  zukommt,  schon  zu  stark  geworden,  ihre  innere  Abrundung  drangt  zu 
sehr  zum  Abschluss,  als  dass  auch  nur  dieser  dritte  Teil  im  Sinne  einer  Schilde- 
ning  des  iiberpersonlichen  zeitgenossischen  Fiihlens  in  Anspruch  genommen 
werden  konnte,  die  vom  ganzen  Werk  irrtumlich  ausgesagt  wurde  .  .  .  " — 
Wandrey,  op.  cit.,  p.  125. 

'6  Gottfried  Kricker,  Theodor  Fontane.  Von  seiner  Art  und  epischen  Technik, 
S.  91. 


38  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

itself,  the  spirit  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  time,  whether 
registered  in  conversation,  genre  scene  or  episode  are  very 
accurately  caught  and  presented. 

In  the  broad  outlines  of  technique  Vor  dem  Sturm  reminds 
one  less  of  the  Waverley  Novels  than  of  Alexis'  Isegrimm 
(1854).  Fontane's  treatment  of  his  subject  is  closer  to  Alexis* 
broad  epic  sweep  and  to  his  peculiar,  loose  structure  of  genre 
scenes,  episodes  and  anecdotes  than  to  Scott's  essentially 
dramatic  technique.  Furthermore,  in  both  Isegrimm  and  Vor 
dem  Sturm  the  central  historical  figure  is  drawn  from  the  same 
source,  the  memoirs  of  Ludwig  von  der  Marwitz,  and  both 
novels  treat  the  period  of  Prussia's  degradation.  In  spite  of 
these  similarities,  however,  there  are  no  such  striking  parallels 
in  Isegrimm  and  Vor  dem  Sturm  as  will  be  pointed  out  for  Fon- 
tane's novel  and  the  Waverley  Novels.  Besides,  it  is  significant 
that  Fontane,  while  noting  a  common  source  for  the  central 
historical  figure  in  Isegrimm  and  Vor  dem  Sturm,  and  confessing 
to  great  admiration  for  Isegrimm,  nowhere  refers  to  any  de- 
pendence on  Alexis. ^^ 

Two  points  in  the  general  technique  of  Vor  dem  Sturm  sug- 
gest the  influence  of  Scott  in  the  novel.  In  the  first  place,  Le- 
win  bears  considerable  resemblance  to  Scott's  passive  heroes. 
He  does  not  act  so  much  as  he  is  acted  upon.^^  In  the  second 
place,  Vor  dem  Sturm  contains  a  slight,  though  definite  action, 
consisting  of  a  love  plot  and  a  political  plot,  an  action  which 
gains  in  dramatic  swiftness  with  the  approach  of  the  end  of  the 
novel.  Compare  this  procedure  with  that  in  Waverley,  in  which 
Scott  likens  the  rapidity  of  his  narrative  to  a  stone  rolling  down 
h\\\P  This  conventional  plot,  which  will  be  examined  in  the  next 
chapter,  is  quite  unlike  that  found  in  Fontane's  later  novels. 

»7  Letter,  April  24,  1880.     W,  2,  XL  6. 

»*  Scott  introduces  in  most  of  his  novels  a  hero  who  is  conventional  and  color- 
less and  designed  to  reflect  the  influence  of  the  historical  events. 
«•  Chap.  LXX. 


CHAPTER  IV 

INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  ON 
FONTANE'S   Vor  dem  Sturm 

I.  Waverley 

An  enthusiastic  reference  to  Waverley  in  Jenseit  des  Tweed 
shows  Fontane's  admiration  for  Scott's  first  novel:  "Here  (viz., 
in  Holyrood  Palace),  danced  those  figures  which  W.  Scott  in 
his  Waverley  has  wrested  from  oblivion  for  centuries, — Fergus 
and  Flora  Maclvor,  old  Bradwardine  and  his  charming 
daughter."  ^  As  will  be  evident  in  the  following  pages,  in  Vor 
dem  Sturm  the  clearest,  widest  and  most  detailed  influence  of 
Scott  flowed  from  Waverley.  Other  works  of  the  British  author, 
to  be  sure,  are  important  in  this  respect,  but  their  influence  is 
confined  to  isolated  features  of  Fontane's  novels. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  possible  to  write  a  formula  which  con- 
tains the  outline  of  the  plot  of  Vor  dem  Sturm  and  Waverley. 
The  hero,  a  young,  impressionable  man  of  romantic  bent,  is 
captivated  by  the  charms  of  a  brilliant,  worldly  girl.  A  close 
relative  of  the  latter  (father  and  brother  respectively)  is  an 
ambitious  man,  who  encourages  the  match  in  order  to 
strengthen  his  political  position.  After  the  hero  has  been 
rejected  by  his  first  love,  he  comes  to  realize  his  affection  for 
the  naive,  domestic  girl  who  has  been  fond  of  him  for  a  long 
time,  and  whom  he  marries  after  his  character  has  been  sea- 
soned by  military  experiences. 

This  correspondence  in  plot  would  alone  perhaps  not  war- 
rant the  conclusion  that  Waverley  had  influenced  the  con- 

^  P.  250. 

39 


40       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

ception  of  Vor  dem  Sturm.  But  in  addition  to  this,  we  find 
(besides  other  points  of  contact)^  a  more  or  less  close  similarity 
in  the  figures  forming  the  quadrilateral  of  the  plot.  Lewin, 
Kathinka,  Marie  and  Ladalinski  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  correspond 
to  Waverley,  Flora,  Rose  and  Maclvor  respectively  in 
Waverley.^ 

The  heroes  of  the  two  novels  are  both  men  of  similar  char- 
acter and  temperament.  Both  Lewin  von  Vitzewitz  and 
Edward  Waverley  are  exalted,  romantic  dreamers,  not  men  of 
action,  and  in  one  sense  the  purpose  of  each  novel  is  the  ripen- 
ing of  the  hero  through  difficult  experiences.  This  aim  is  em- 
phasized more  in  Waverley,  which  has  more  the  character  of 
the  Entwicklungsroman,  than  in  Vor  dem  Sturm. 

Both  of  the  leading  characters  have  developed  literary 
tastes  in  their  youth.  At  the  beginning  of  the  novel  Lewin  is 
living  in  Berlin  and  studying  to  be  a  jurist.  He  attends  lec- 
tures by  Savigny  and  Fichte,  yet  these  duties  cannot  prevent 
him  from  following  his  inclination  and  he  spends  most  of  his 
time  reading  his  favorite  books — ^the  works  of  the  Romantic 
School,  as  well  as  Shakespeare  and  Percy.  Waverley  too  is 
allowed  to  choose  his  own  reading  at  Waverley-Honour,  and 
his  fondness  for  the  heroic  tales  of  his  ancestors  develops  in 
him  the  taste  for  romantic  literature.  On  leaving  his  uncle *s 
house  he  even  composes  a  poem,  which  is  quoted.  It  is  litera- 
ture which  forms  the  bond  that  draws  Waverley  to  Rose  Brad- 
wardine  as  well  as  to  Flora  Maclvor.  The  latter  has  herself 
written  poetry.  At  a  tea  given  at  the  court  of  the  Young 
Chevalier,  Waverley  reads  Romeo  and  Juliet  to  the  company.* 

*  Cf.  below,  p.  47  ff . 

'  In  comparing  the  characters  and  other  similar  features  in  Fontane  and 
Scott  we  will  take  up  first  Vor  dem  Sturm,  with  which  we  have  acquired  some 
familiarity,  and  then  proceed  to  the  particular  Waverley  novel  which  is  the 
German  author's  source  for  this  work. 

*  Chap.  LIV. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  4 1 

Lewin  looks  upon  his  literary  inclinations  less  as  an  elegant 
accomplishment  or  pastime  in  the  manner  of  Waverley  than 
as  a  serious  interest.  He  is  presented  as  the  founder  of  a  literary 
society  and  is  often  shown  discussing  contemporary  literature. 
Here  we  doubtless  have  echoes  of  Fontanels  own  literary 
activity. 

Both  Lewin  and  Waverley  make  indifferent  soldiers.  Lewin 
is  an  essentially  non-political  and  non-military  nature.®  Hence 
he  has  not  the  bitter  hatred  of  the  French  oppressors  which 
characterizes  his  father,  and  he  thinks  that  their  allies  should 
not  be  trapped  when  in  distress.  Again,  when  in  Berlin  he  feels 
sympathy  for  the  bedraggled  French  troops  returning  from 
Russia  and  guides  them  to  their  quarters.  Lewin  takes  no 
important  part  in  the  rural  uprising  against  the  French  which 
is  organized  by  his  father.  Yet  when  the  time  comes,  he 
plays  his  role  bravely,  leading  one  body  of  troops  in  the 
attack  on  the  French  garrison  in  Frankfort;  and  finally,  when 
he  returns  from  the  wars  with  sabre  cut  on  brow,  his  "soft 
aspect"  is  gone. 

Waverley,  upon  leaving  Waverley-Honour,  goes  to  Scot- 
land to  receive  military  training.  Here  his  absentmindedness 
often  embarrasses  him,  and  he  is  not  sorry  to  seize  the  first 
opportunity  to  visit  the  Bradwardines.  The  young  soldier 
remains  away  from  his  regiment  so  long  that  the  charge  of 
treason  brought  against  him  becomes  serious.  Therefore  it  is 
not  surprising  that  Waverley  can  swing  from  the  side  of  the 
king  to  that  of  the  Young  Chevalier  with  few  qualms.  His  lack 
of  interest  in  his  military  duties  even  after  he  has  joined 
Charles  Edward's  standard  is  remarked  upon  by  Flora.  How- 
ever, Waverley,  like  Lewin,  fights  bravely  when  thrust  by  fate 

'  In  this  respect  like  Fontane,  whose  political  views  were  always  "somewhat 
wobbly."     Von  Zwanzig  his  Dreissig.     W,  2,  III,  157,  note. 


42  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

into  action,  and  he  reaches  the  end  of  the  novel  stiffened  and 
seasoned  by  mihtary  discipHne. 

Another  characteristic  growing  out  of  each  hero's  imprac- 
tical, dreamy  temperament  is  his  aversion  to  social  life.  Con- 
sequently the  impressionable  youth  is  particularly  suscep- 
tible to  social  brilliance.  But  he  can  shine  at  times,  especially 
under  the  eyes  of  his  beloved. 

Lewin's  dislike  of  society  displeases  his  aunt,  who  believes 
that  he  is  too  much  devoted  to  literary  ways  {AUilren)  for  a 
nobleman.  Besides,  she  is  anxious  to  promote  a  match  between 
Lewin  and  her  wordly  niece,  Kathinka.  For  this  purpose,  she 
suggests  that  he  see  something  of  the  world.  Lewin  is  im- 
pressed by  the  social  ease  and  experience  of  Kathinka,  and 
while  at  the  Ladalinski's  soir^  he  is  conscious  of  his  own 
defects  in  this  regard,  contrasting  himself  with  the  favored 
suitor,  Bninski.^  However,  on  special  occasions,  he  can  dis- 
tinguish himself  in  society. '^ 

Waverley  in  his  youth  spends  much  of  his  time  alone.  He  is 
an  omnivorous  reader,  but  sports  and  society  do  not  interest 
him.  Hence  he  knows  little  of  social  accomplishments.  When 
he  is  sixteen  years  old,  his  love  of  solitude  disturbs  his  uncle, 
and  this,  together  with  his  infatuation  for  the  squire's  daugh- 
ter, leads  his  aunt  to  suggest  that  he  too  see  something  of  the 
world.  When  Waverley  has  some  scruples  about  joining  the 
Stuart  rebellion,  it  is  the  solicitation  of  the  charming  Cheva- 
lier which  overcomes  them.  In  the  same  way  he  is  impressed 
by  Flora  Maclvor's  ease  and  social  poise,  and  he  cannot 
maintain  his  sang-froid  when  she  gives  him  the  mitten  in  a 
covert  way.^  However,  Scott's  hero  can  summon  up  a  gam- 
bler's courage.   At  the  ball  just  before  the  battle  he  succeeds 

•  Chap.  XLI. 
7  Cf.  Chap.  L. 
"Chap.  XLI  II. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  43 

SO  well  in  showing  his  spirit  that  Flora,  who  before  is  described 
as  disliking  his  shyness,  is  struck  by  his  eloquence  and  vivacity. 

As  is  to  be  expected  in  this  rather  conventional  type  of 
Entwicklungsroman,  the  fortune  of  each  of  the  heroes  must 
finally  be  crowned  by  solid  domestic  happiness.  After  being 
healed  of  a  foolish  passion,  he  realizes  for  what  he  has  been 
destined.  As  his  first  love  fails  him,  his  eyes  are  opened  to  the 
charms  and  virtues  of  the  naive  girl  of  domestic  tastes. 

Kathinka  Ladalinski,  the  hero's  first  love  in  Vor  dent  Sturniy 
corresponds  closely  to  Flora  Maclvor  in  Waverley.  Kathinka 
and  Flora  represent  each  the  marvellous  and  the  exotic  to  the 
hero,  whose  romantic  imagination  they  quickly  captivate. 

Kathinka  LadaHnski  is  a  Pole  by  nature  as  well  as  by  birth : 
she  is  brilliant  and  vivacious  and  charms  all  with  her  social 
gifts.  Hence  her  ridicule  of  sentimentality  and  domesticity. 
We  learn  that  the  Ladalinski  home  was  broken  up  early  and 
that  the  training  of  the  children  has  been  for  society  rather 
than  for  the  domestic  circle.^  With  breathless  attention  the 
curious  Renate  and  Marie  listen  to  Kathinka's  description  of 
the  Berlin  court  functions  which  she  has  attended.^''  The 
latter  is  not  so  upright  a  character  as  Flora  and  she  is  not  at 
pains  to  suppress  coquettish  behaviour  with  one  man,  even  when 
looking  forward  to  marriage  with  another.^^  She  is  a  type 
well  calculated  to  bewitch  an  inexperienced  dreamer  like  Lewin. 

The  exotic  and  romantic  strain  in  Flora  Maclvor  is  furnished 
by  her  Celtic  ancestry  and  French  training.  She  is  a  Highland 
girl,  who  has  spent  her  early  years  abroad.  Her  father,  an 
exile  in  France,  married  a  lady  in  that  country  and  left  two 
orphans,  Flora  and  her  brother  Fergus,  who  were  cared  for  by 
James  Stuart  and  his  wife.    Hence  the  zeal  of  brother  and 

•  Chap.  XXXII. 
10  Chap.  XXVI. 
"  Chaps.  L  and  LI. 


44       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

sister  for  the  Jacobite  cause.  Flora  is  highly  accomplished,  and 
even  after  returning  to  her  lonely  Highland  home,  she  devotes 
herself  to  Celtic  poetry  and  music.  Independent  and  versed 
in  the  ways  of  the  world,  Flora  quickly  gains  an  ascendency 
over  Waverley,  whom  she  regards  as  an  inexperienced  youth. 

The  chapter  "Kleiner  Zirkel"^^  in  Vor  dem  Sturm,  bears  con- 
siderable resemblance  to  the  chapter  "To  one  thing  constant 
never"^^  in  Waverley.  Both  have  the  same  purpose :  the  hero  is 
given  a  hint  which  should  clear  up  in  his  mind  the  attitude  of 
his  inamorata  toward  him. 

At  a  small  gathering  at  Ladalinski's,  to  which  Kathinka  in- 
vites Lewin,  the  conversation  turns  upon  German  Treue^ 
which  Bninski  ridicules  as  often  hypocritical.  Whereupon 
Kathinka  mockingly  dubs  Lewin  minister  to  King  Trauring, 
and  as  such  well  fitted  to  tell  a  story  of  the  power  attaching  to 
hereditary  rings.  At  a  tea  which  is  attended  by  many  con- 
nected with  the  Chevalier's  court,  Waverley  reads  parts  of 
Romeo  and  Juliet  aloud.  In  the  ensuing  discussion  of  con- 
stancy Flora  defends  the  transference  of  Romeo's  affection 
from  Rosalind  to  Juliet,  and  Romeo- Waverley,  unlike  the  more 
infatuated  Lewin,  is  wise  enough  to  profit  by  the  hint  given. 

Kathinka  and  Flora  both  vanish  from  the  scene  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  novel.  Kathinka,  after  her  elopement  with 
Count  Bninski,  takes  up  her  residence  abroad,  while  Flora 
upon  the  collapse  of  the  Stuart  rebellion  and  the  execution  of 
her  brother,  retires  to  a  convent  in  France. 

Marie  Kniehase  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  and  Rose  Bradwardine 
in  Waverley  are  similar  to  one  another  in  character  and  in  their 
function  in  the  plot.  Both  Marie  and  Rose  have  always  lived 
quiet,  secluded  lives,  neither  has  enjoyed  the  advantages  of 
the  arts  which  can  be  learned  only  in  cities.   Hence  each  has 

1*  Chap.  L. 
»» Chap.  LIV. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  45 

a  natural  timidity  and  each  is  seen  to  best  advantage  in  do- 
mestic settings.  Even  if  Marie  and  Rose  had  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  cultivate  the  social  graces  they  would  scarcely  have 
profited  by  life  in  larger  circles  (as  do  Kathinka  and  Flora), 
for  they  are  not  brilliant.  With  them  feeling  plays  a  greater 
role  than  intellect^  and  their  virtues  and  tastes  destine  them  for 
domestic  life. 

The  attitude  of  each  naive  girl  toward  her  hero  is  one  of 
mute,  rapt  adoration,  and  with  them  love  develops  gradually 
and  almost  imperceptibly  out  of  similarity  of  taste  and  unself- 
ish admiration. 

Marie  is  a  better-drawn  character,  less  shadowy  and  nega- 
tive than  Rose;  and  yet,  as  Hayens  states, ^^  she  is  drawn 
largely  by  suggestion.  She  has  fantasy,  is  winsome  and  can 
captivate  a  Tubal,  an  Othegraven  and  a  Bamme.  However, 
she  is  quiet,  says  little  and  is  a  good  listener.  Marie  appears 
before  us  in  an  early  chapter,^^  when  she  joins  the  family  circle 
about  the  Christmas  tree  at  Hohen-Vietz.  A  few  chapters 
later  ^®  the  young  people  from  the  manor-house,  Marie,  Lewin 
and  Renate,  are  shown  at  an  informal  gathering  at  the  par- 
sonage. But  it  is  only  after  his  illness  in  Bohlsdorf,  following 
the  news  of  Kathinka's  elopement,  that  Lewin  is  purged  of  his 
infatuation  for  his  Polish  cousin,  and  Marie's  letter  to  his 
sister  reveals  the  former's  interest  in  him.^^  Finally  it  is  the 
battle  of  Frankfort  which  ripens  and  brings  to  a  head  the  love 
of  the  pair.^^ 

^*  Theodor  Fontane,  p.  22. 

16  Chap.  VI. 

i«  Chaps.  XII,  XIII,  XIV. 

17  Chap.  LVIII. 

18  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  awakening  of  Lewin's  love  for  Marie  is  not 
very  well  motivated.  The  love-motif,  for  such  it  really  is, — cf.  Keiter  and 
Kellen,  Der  Roman,  S.  128, — is  connected  with  a  mystic  inscription  on  a  grave 
in  a  country  church  in  Bohlsdorf.  Here  the  hero  is  first  reminded  of  Marie, 
{cf.  Chap.  I),  here  he  has  his  fateful  illness  and  here  he  is  married. 


46       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

In  Scott's  novel  it  is  association  with  Waverley  in  pursuing 
studies  together  at  TuUy-Veolan  that  awakens  the  tender 
sentiment  in  Rose  Bradwardine.^^  The  sharp-witted  Flora, 
however,  perceives  the  true  state  of  affairs  before  Rose  herself 
is  conscious  of  it.  The  latter  is  always  solicitous  of  Waverley's 
welfare.  She  it  is  who  engineers  his  deliverance  from  the 
English,2o  and  detects  his  paleness  when  he  is  rebuffed  by  Flora 
at  the  ball.2^  As  -m  the  case  of  Lewin,  it  is  in  the  stress  of  the 
campaign  that  Waverley  becomes  conscious  of  his  feelings 
toward  Rose. 

In  each  of  the  novels  under  consideration  we  have  a  similar 
contrast  of  female  types.  In  both  Vor  dem  Sturm  and  Waverley 
the  hero  meets  the  naive,  less  sophisticated  girl  first.  However, 
as  her  simplicity  and  domesticity  cannot  arouse  his  imagina- 
tion, he  comes  to  regard  her  merely  as  a  close  friend  or  relative. 
Both  Scott  and  Fontane  are  fond  of  bringing  out  the  contrast 
between  the  two  chief  female  figures,  who,  though  of 
widely  different  temperaments,  are  in  both  novels  intimate 
friends. 

In  Vor  dem  Sturm  Kathinka  as  a  PoIq  ridicules  the  solid  and 
pedantic  Othegraven,  who  is  represented  as  incarnating  the 
German  virtue  of  Treue,  contrasting  him  with  Count  Bninski 
who  has  the  Polish  virtues  of  passion  and  fantasy.^  In  this 
scene  Marie  defends  Othegraven.  In  Waverley  there  are  similar 
contrasting  discussions.  Flora,  anxious  to  have  Waverley  turn 
his  affections  to  Rose,  praises  the  latter's  domestic  virtues  to 
him.  Rose,  she  says,  will  live  only  for  her  husband. ^^  In  the 
same  way  Flora  draws  an  enticing  picture  of  domestic  happi- 

'» Chap.  XIV. 
"  Chap.  LXV. 
"  Chap.  XLIII. 
»2  Chap.  XXXI. 
"Chap.  XXIII. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  47 

ness  for  Rose.^^  When  the  two  girls  are  brought  together  at  the 
court  of  the  ChevaHer,  Flora  acts  as  a  teacher  for  her  inexperi- 
enced friend.  On  one  occasion  Rose  defends  her  idol,  Waverley, 
against  Flora's  gentle  ridicule  of  his  dreaminess  and  lack^of 
interest  in  his  military  duties. ^^ 

Geheimrat  Ladalinski  resembles  Fergus  Maclvor,  though  not 
so  much  in  character  as  in  his  function  in  the  plot.  They  ap- 
pear respectively  as  father  and  brother  of  the  hero's  first  love, 
and  each  favors  the  marriage  of  the  girl  in  order  to  strengthen 
his  own  political  position. 

Polish  by  birth,  Ladalinski  is  yet  a  genuine  Prussian  by 
temperament,  and  has  risen  high  in  the  service  of  the  state  and 
even  abjured  Catholicism.  When  forced  to  leave  his  native 
country,  he  burned  his  bridges  behind  him.  He  does  not  insist 
upon  his  daughter's  marriage  with  Lewin,  but  merely  forbids  her 
to  marry  a  Pole,  Bninski.  He  has  nothing  against  the  latter  per- 
sonally, but  only  fears  that  his  enemies  will  injure  him  if  they  hear 
that  his  daughter  has  married  a  man  of  strong  Polish  sympathies. 

Fergus  Maclvor  is  a  less  likeable  character  than  Ladalinski. 
Heart  and  soul  engaged  in  the  rebellion  of  the  Chevalier,  he 
hopes  to  further  his  overweening  personal  ambitions  by  bring- 
ing a  member  of  the  powerful  Waverley  family  to  the  Prince's 
standard.  As  he  is  anxious  to  be  made  an  earl,  he  is  highly  dis- 
pleased, first  that  his  sister  rejects  Waverley's  suit,  and  then 
that  the  latter 's  ardor  cools. 

Neither  of  the  girls  concerned,  Kathinka  or  Flora,  is  guided 
by  the  advice  given  by  her  relative,  but  each  acts  according  to 
her  own  inclinations.  Kathinka  elopes  with  Bninski  and  Flora 
refuses  Waverley. 

n.  Guy  Mannering 

The  character  of  Hoppenmarieken  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  owes 
much  to  Scott  prototypes.    In  fact  she  is  hardly  conceivable 

2*  Chap.  LIL 


48       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

without  them.  A  similar  mysterious,  witch-like  general- 
utility  agent,  who  often  holds  the  threads  of  the  plot,  appears 
in  one  form  or  another  in  a  number  of  the  Waverley  Novels, 
most  strikingly  as  Meg  Merrilies  in  Guy  Mannering,  Exiie 
Ochiltree  in  the  Antiquary  and  Madge  Murdockson  in  the 
Heart  of  Midlothian. 

Hoppenmarieken  is  pictured  as  old  and  ugly,  a  mixture  of 
dwarf  and  witch.  She  wears  a  red  frieze  dress,  high  boots  and 
head-cloth  and  carries  a  long  stick  and  a  basket.  The  hag  bears 
only  a  general,  external  resemblance  to  Scott's  figures,  viz., 
in  her  fantastic  dress  and  staff.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  the 
picturesque  garb  of  some  old  Wendish  women,  of  whom  Fon- 
tane  met  many  during  his  walks  through  the  Mark  Branden- 
burg, suggested  certain  details  of  Hoppenmarieken 's  costume 
and  function  as  mail-carrier.^  Fontane  wrote  Wolfsohn  on 
November  lo,  1847,  of  a  mail-carrier  in  the  town  of  Letschin  in 
the  Oderbruch:  "The  intellectual,  hence  the  most  important 
intercourse  is  maintained  through  an  old  woman,  who,  not 
unlike  Noma  in  Scott's  Pirate,  throws  a  mail-bag  every  Satur- 
day into  the  Apotheke  and  vanishes  like  a  ghost  in  gruesome 
night."  2^  This  woman  also  wears  boots  like  Hoppenmarieken. 
The  editor  of  the  letters,  Wilhelm  Wolters,  thinks  that  this 
mail-carrier  is  the  model  for  Hoppenmarieken .^^  It  is  possible 
that  Fontane  received  some  slight  suggestions  for  Hoppen- 
marieken from  the  striking  figure  referred  to  in  the  Pirate,^^ 
the  prophetess  Noma,  of  Norse  descent  with  magic  powers. 

However,  Hoppenmarieken  corresponds  far  more  closely  to 
Meg  Merrilies  in  Guy  Mannering.  Both  outcasts  are  protected 

2*  Cf.  the  description  of  the  descendants  of  Wends  in  the  Wanderungen  dutch 
die  Mark  Brandenburg,  pt.  II,  "Oderland,"  p.  33. 

28  Theodor  Fontanes  Briefwechsel  mit  Wilhelm  Wolfsohn,  S.  26. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  26,  note. 

2'  Mentioned  more  than  once  in  the  Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark  Branden- 
burg. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  49 

by  the  nobleman  of  the  district.  Hoppenmarieken,  when  she 
came,  thirty  years  before  the  opening  of  the  story,  to  Hohen- 
Vietz  as  a  half-tramp,  was  favored  by  Berndt  von  Vitzewitz. 
In  spite  of  the  doubts  of  some,  the  latter  allows  her  to  live  in  a 
wild  section,  the  "Forstacker,"  which  resembles  a  gypsy  camp. 
Moreover,  he  overlooks  many  of  her  misdemeanors. 

Meg  Merrilies  in  Guy  Mannering  is  an  old  gypsy,  belonging 
to  a  group  of  her  race  who  live  on  the  Laird  of  EUangowan's 
estate  in  their  "city  of  refuge."  For  years  the  good-natured 
Bertram  has  permitted  these  people  to  live  on  his  lands. 

Although  generally  surly  and  unapproachable,  Hoppenma- 
rieken evinces  a  particular  fondness  for  Lewin,  whom  she  has 
seen  grow  up.  Looked  upon  with  distrust  by  most  as  a  suspi- 
cious character  who  lays  cards,  etc.,  Lewin  alone  regards  her 
with  sympathy  as  a  picturesque  relic  of  the  Wendish  world. 
After  Lewin  and  Tubal  rescue  Hoppenmarieken  from  bandits, 
she  gives  expression  to  affection  for  the  former,^^  and  in  a  later 
chapter,  when  the  dwarf-woman  is  proved  to  be  a  receiver  of 
stolen  goods,  it  is  Lewin  who  effects  her  release. ^^ 

In  the  same  way  Meg  Merrilies  early  becomes  attached  to 
the  young  Laird  of  EUangowan,  and  feels  destined  to  watch 
over  his  career.  At  his  birth  she  spins  and  tells  his  fortune,^^ 
and  a  few  years  later  she  seeks  out  opportunities  of  seeing  the 
boy.  When  she  with  the  rest  of  her  tribe  are  driven  out  from 
their  homes  by  the  Laitd  in  a  sudden  access  of  political  zeal, 
Meg  prophesies  evil  to  the  house  of  EUangowan.  This  arrives 
quickly  when  the  heir  is  kidnapped  .^^ 

Both  Hoppenmarieken  and  Meg  Merrilies  in  their  role  of 

2»  Cf.  Chap.  XXIX. 

3"  He  recognizes  her  mental  inferiority.  Cf.,  the  mental  state  of  Meg  Mer- 
rilies, Madge  Murdockson  {Heart  of  Midlothian),  etc. 

31  Chap.  IV. 

32  Chap.  IX. 


50       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

witches  have  an  importance  in  promoting  the  fortunes  of  the 
hero,  in  whose  interest  they  sacrifice  their  lives.  When  Lewin 
is  imprisoned  in  the  Kiistrin  fortress,  after  having  been  cap- 
tured by  the  French,  Hoppenmarieken  is  called  upon  to  smug- 
gle him  a  rope  and  a  note,  thus  making  possible  his  escape.'' 
The  rescuing  party  returning  home  find  the  aged  woman  dead 
in  the  snow.   She  is  then  given  Christian  burial.'^ 

In  a  much  greater  degree  than  Fontane's  witch,  Meg  Merri- 
lies  is  the  power  behind  the  scene  in  Guy  Mannering.  She 
unravels  all  the  tangled  threads  of  the  plot  and  finally  restores 
Bertram  to  his  patrimony.  In  a  striking  scene  she  introduces 
the  Laird  to  his  kidnapper,  but  in  so  doing  is  shot  by  the 
latter.'^  She  does  not  die,  however,  until  she  proves  Bertram's 
right  to  EUangowan.  Meg,  just  as  Hoppenmarieken,  is  given 
Christian  burial. 

Hoppenmarieken  seems  to  owe  something  also  to  the  char- 
acter of  Edie  Ochiltree  in  the  Antiquary.  She  is  not  merely  a 
witch;  like  Scott's  character  she  is  a  news-carrier  and  jester. 

Hoppenmarieken  as  Botenweih  is  a  purveyor  of  news.  She 
is  omnipresent,  and  the  familiar  footing  on  which  she  stands 
with  the  Kiistrin  garrison,  who  look  upon  her  as  a  clown, 
enables  her  to  approach  Lewin's  prison.'^  She  takes  liberties 
with  her  betters,  calling  Bamme  "liitten  General"  and  "General- 
ken."  " 

Edie  Ochiltree  performs,  to  be  sure,  a  function  analogous  to 
that  of  Meg  in  Guy  Mannering.  He  is  the  outcast  who  pulls 
the  wires  and  interests  himself  in  the  hero.  Furthermore,  as 
he  is  a  licensed  beggar  ("king's  bedesman"),  news-carrier  and 

»» Chap.  LXXV. 
>*  Chap.  LXXX. 
»  Chapl  LIV. 
»« Chap.  LXXVI. 
»» Chap.  LXXV. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  5 1 

wandering  tinker,  he  is  ubiquitous.  Like  Hoppenmarieken,  he 
is  independent  and  prefers  his  roving  life  to  the  settled  exis- 
tence offered  him  by  Isabell  Wardour  for  saving  her  and  her 
father.^*  Another  of  Edie's  distinguishing  traits  is  his  freedom 
of  tongue  which  places  him  in  the  ranks  of  modern  privileged 
jesters.^® 

III.  The  Antiquary 

Some  of  the  most  enthusiastic  of  the  references  to  Scott's 
genius  in  Fontane's  works  concern  the  Antiquary.  According 
to  an  unpublished  diary  entry  for  1877,^°  Fontane  went  to  the 
Harz  to  recuperate  after  working  hard  during  June  and  July 
on  Vor  dem  Sturm.  Here  he  corrected  the  third  volume  of  his 
novel  and  also  read  the  Antiquary:  ^^  "My  enthusiasm  was  at 
first  as  of  old;  but  there  runs  through  his  (viz.,  Scott's)  whole 
production  an  element  of  the  superficial,  of  taking  things  too 
easily  in  his  work,  and  many  things  are  absolutely  slurred  over. 
Only  his  rare  talent  and  perhaps  still  more  his  unique  personal 
charm  (which  is  reflected  in  everything)  cause  me  to  overlook 
these  sloppy  tricks.  When  I  closed  the  book  I  drew  a  deep 
breath  and  said  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart — 'Out  with  your 
conviction,  you  too  will  do  as  well'." 

Thus  as  the  German  author  is  putting  the  finishing  touches 
on  his  first  novel,  he  re-reads  a  favorite  work  by  Scott,  partly 
at  least  as  a  basis  of  comparison  for  his  own  book.  This  quota- 
tion, when  taken  with  the  parallels  which  have  been  dis- 
cussed, furnishes  collateral  evidence  of  Fontane's  indebtedness 
to  Scott  in  Vor^em  Sturm. 


"  Chap.  XII. 

»»  Cf.  his  explanation  of  the  ditch  to  Oldbuck,  Chap.  IV. 
*"  Printed  in  part  in  Trebein,  op.  cit.,  p.  2,  note. 

*^  The  following  quotation  from  Fontane's  unpublished  diary  was  placed  at 
my  disposal  by  Miss  Trebein. 


52       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

Seidentopf,  Fontane's  antiquary  in  Vor  dent  Sturm,  seems  to 
have  been  suggested  by  Oldbuck,  the  antiquary  in  Scott's 
novel.^  Both  men  have  been  overcome  by  the  delight  of  the 
collector,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  have  been  trained  for 
another  profession  (Seidentopf  for  the  ministry  and  Oldbuck 
for  the  law).  Each  author  devotes  considerable  space  to  a 
humorous  description  of  the  amateur  museums  of  his  anti- 
quary .'*^  Both  Seidentopf  and  Oldbuck  have  a  particular  crony, 
in  each  case  a  less  skilled  antiquary  of  a  different  type,  who 
becomes  an  opponent  in  heated  arguments.  To  be  sure,  Sei- 
dentopf's  old  university  comrade,  Justizrat  Turgany,  is  too 
much  the  elegant  man  of  the  world  to  give  himself  up  entirely 
to  such  a  hobby,  but  being  fond  of  a  good  argument,  he  con- 
stitutes himself  the  champion  of  Panslavism. 

Oldbuck  is  a  shrewd  burgher,  an  adherent  of  the  Protestant 
Succession  and  descendant  of  a  German  printer,  whereas  his 
irascible,  visionary  opponent.  Sir  Arthur  Wardour,  has  a  long 
pedigree  and  a  sentimental  leaning  toward  the  Stuart  cause. 
His  knowledge  of  his  antiquarian  hobby  is  not  so  sound  as  that 
of  Oldbuck.  The  latter  has  one  striking  trait  in  common  with 
Seidentopf.  Both  have  a  favorite  ethnic  origin  for  their  native 
country — in  each  case  Teutonic.  Seidentopf  considers  Slavic 
(Wendish)  civilisation,  Monkbarns  Celtic  civilisation,  inferior 
to  Germanic. 

We  may  compare  also  the  argument  over  the  origin  of  the 
chariot  in  Vor  dem  Sturm^  with  the  dispute  over  the  derivation 
of  the  word  "benval"  in  the  Antiquary.^  In  the  first  case  Ren- 

*2  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  Fontane,  in  preparing  his  Wanderungen 
dutch  die  Mark  Brandenburg,  became  something  of  an  antiquary  himself  and 
was  manifestly  interested  in  this  type.  Cf.  his  antiquary  in  Unwiederbringlich 
and  Der  Stechlin. 

*^  Chap.  XI  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  and  Chap.  Ill  in  the  Antiquary. 

**  Chap.  XIII. 

«  Chap.  VI. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  53 

ate  is  summoned  to  decide  whether  a  chariot  is  Teutonic  or 
Wendish;  in  the  second,  Lovel  is  called  upon  as  umpire  to  de- 
termine whether  the  word  is  Teutonic  or  Celtic. 

Seidentopf  and  Oldbuck  are,  of  course,  different  types  save 
in  their  passion  for  collecting.  Their  hobby,  however,  is  always 
presented  in  a  similar  light  of  gentle  humor. 

The  romantic  history  of  the  noble  family  Vitzewitz  in  Vor 
dem  Sturm  bears  striking  resemblances  to  that  of  the  house  of 
Wardour  in  the  Antiquary.  In  Fontane's  novel  the  author 
reviews  for  us  the  varied  fortunes  of  the  Vitzewitz  family  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  while  in  Scott's  novel  Edie  Ochiltree  relates 
the  story  of  Sir  Arthour  Wardour's  family,  taking  us  back  to 
the  twelfth  century. 

In  both  novels  a  brothers'  quarrel  has  fateful  consequences 
for  the  future  of  the  family.  In  Vor  dem  Sturm  two  brothers 
dispute  over  allegiance  to  the  emperor  at  a  banquet  held  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  Thirty  Years  War.  The  younger,  Mat- 
thias, an  officer  in  the  imperial  army,  slays  his  elder  brother, 
Anselm,  who  has  remained  on  his  father's  estate.  After  this 
deed,  the  hall  in  which  the  murder  has  taken  place  becomes  a 
symbol  of  the  misfortune  which  pursues  the  family,  and  the 
repentant  Matthias  turns  it  into  a  chapel,  which  he  dedicates 
to  expiatory  rites.  In  the  Antiquary  the  "Norman"  Wardour 
marries  the  Scottish  heiress  of  Knockwinnock.  The  latter  has 
an  illegitimate  son,  Malcolm  Misticot,  who  wrests  Knockwin- 
nock from  the  rightful  heir,  holding  the  castle  for  a  time  and 
adding  a  tower,  which  is  called  by  his  name.  However,  the 
usurper  is  finally  driven  out  by  his  half-brother  and  he  retires 
to  the  priory  of  his  uncle. 

Since  the  fatal  deed  in  each  case  misfortune  has  visited  the 
family.  The  Vitzewitz  line  has  been  cursed  since  the  time  of 
the  brothers*  quarrel.  For  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  it  has 
consisted  of  but  one  member  ("stand  auf  zwei  Augen").  In  the 


54       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

first  chapter  Lewin  learns  that  Matthias  has  been  "seen"  again 
in  the  old  chapel  and  in  a  later  chapter  the  sick  Renate  is 
terrified  by  a  report  that  Matthias  is  once  more  praying  before 
the  altar ."^^  Moreover,  at  the  time  of  the  story  Berndt,  in  com- 
mon with  his  countrymen,  has  suffered  from  the  heavy  hand 
of  Napoleon  and  is  by  no  means  prosperous.  In  the  Antiquary 
Sir  Arthour  Wardour  has  large  possessions,  but  they  are 
heavily  encumbered  by  debt,  and  attempts  to  improve  his  sit- 
uation with  the  aid  of  the  "adept"  Dousterswivel  have  only 
made  matters  worse. 

In  both  novels  legends,  embodied  in  popular  rhymes,  have 
sprung  up,  prophesying  a  change  of  fortune  which  is  to  come  to 
each  family  as  the  result  of  some  striking  event.  This  prophecy 
is  fulfilled  in  each  case  through  the  aid  of  an  humble  outcast 
messenger. 

The  Vitzewitz  family  legend  connects  the  entrance  of  new 
blood  into  the  house  and  the  consequent  removal  of  the  old 
curse  with  a  mysterious  fire: 

"Und  eine  Prinzessin  kommt  ins  Haus, 
Da  loscht  ein  Feuer  den  Blutfleck  aus, 
Der  auseinander  getane  Stamm 
Wird  wieder  eins,  wachst  wieder  zusamm* 
Und  wieder  von  seinem  alten  Sitz 
Blickt  in  den  Morgen  Haus  Vitzewitz." 

The  riddle  is  solved  in  the  following  manner:  When  fire 
breaks  out  at  Hohen-Vietz,  Hoppenmarieken  alone  can  check 
the  blaze  with  her  magic,  but  the  author  allows  her  to  let  the 
haunted  hall  burn  down.'*^  After  this  event  Berndt,  in  a  hope- 
ful mood,  quotes  the  first  two  lines  of  the  above  rhyme.  We 
are  not  informed  at  once  who  the  "princess"  is.   But  Chapter 

*«  Chap.  XXXIII. 
*^  Chap.  XLV. 


INFLUENCES  OF  THE  WAVERLEY  NOVELS  55 

LXXXI  is  entitled  "Und  eine  Prinzessin  kommt  ins  Haus.'* 
Marie  is  to  marry  the  hero  and  Renate  is  now  able  to  assert  her 
belief  in  magic  rites  and  popular  rhymes. 

The  Wardours,  on  the  other  hand,  do  not  know  where  the 
usurper  Malcolm  is  buried.  According  to  the  popular  legend, 
however : 

"If  Malcolm  the  Misticot's  grave  were  fun'. 
The  lands  of  Knockwinnock  are  lost  and  won." 
When  a  party  is  digging  for  treasure,  Edie  helps  to  locate 
Misticot's  grave,  beneath  which  is  found  a  quantity  of  silver.** 
This  discovery  marks  the  turning  point  in  the  rehabilitation  of 
the  Wardour  fortunes. 

A  rhymed  prophecy  of  this  sort  can  be  found  in  others  of  the 
Waver  ley  Novels,  notably  the  Pirate  and  the  Bride  of  Lam- 
mermoor.  Yet  in  these  novels,  which  show  little  or  no  influ- 
ence on  Fontane's  works,  it  is  misfortune  which  is  predicted. 

However  Guy  Mannering,  like  the  Antiquary,  contains  a 
rhymed  prophecy  foretelling  good  fortune,  which  is  to  come  to 
the  family  as  a  result  of  some  dramatic  event,  and  which  finally 
arrives  through  the  aid  of  an  outcast  figure.  A  half -defaced 
motto  on  the  ruins  of  Ellangowan  castle,  reading, 

"our  might  makes  our  right," 
forms  the  leit-motif  of  Guy  Mannering,  which  in  some  respects 
resembles  the  mechanical   fate-drama.    The  prophecy  con- 
nected with  the  Laird's  house  runs: 
"The  dark  shall  be  light 
And  the  wrong  made  right 
When  Bertram's  right  and  Bertram's  might 
Shall  meet  on  Ellangowan  height."  ^^ 
For  the  way  in  which  Meg  Merrilies  accomplishes  the 
miracle,  see  above,  p.  50. 

«  Chap.  XXIIL 

"  Chaps.  XLI  and  XLIX. 


CHAPTER  V 

MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  IN  MOTIVE  AND 
TECHNIQUE 

In  addition  to  the  important  influence  of  Scott's  novels  on 
Fontane's  Vor  dem  Sturm,  there  are  also  to  be  found  minor 
points  of  similarity  to  the  Waverley  Novels  in  a  number  of  the 
German  writer's  works,  both  from  his  early  and  from  his  late 
period.  These  points  of  contact  which  concern  motive,  and  to  a 
lesser  degree  technique,  are,  considered  separately,  perhaps 
not  of  great  importance,  but  taken  together,  they  are  very 
significant  since  they  add  measurably  to  Fontane's  indebted- 
ness to  Scott  and  also  prove  that  the  latter's  influence  did  not 
cease  entirely  with  Vor  dem  Sturm. 

Mathilde  Mohring  and  Jeanie  Deans 

The  Heart  of  Midlothian  was  a  favorite  with  Fontane,  who 
refers  to  it  in  his  works  and  letters  on  several  occasions.  During 
a  vacation  the  poet  read  the  whole  novel  in  a  few  days.  He 
writes  to  his  wife  of  this  work :  "In  some  places  not  much  differ- 
ent from  a  better  type  of  Rduberroman,  the  whole  is  never- 
theless of  such  a  colossal  beauty  that  I  have  .  .  .  jumped 
up  many  times  and  paced  up  and  down  my  room  making 
addresses  of  admiration  to  the  deceased."  ^ 

The  name  "Efh",  as  we  shall  see,  Fontane  borrowed  probably 
from  this  source  for  the  heroine  of  his  materpiece,  Effi  Briest. 
But  he  gave  even  stronger  evidence  of  his  fondness  for  the 
main  character  in  Scott's  novel,  Jeanie  Deans.   She  was  for 

»Sept.  a.  1868.     W,  2,  VI,  160. 

56 


.    MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  57 

him  one  of  the  British  master's  creations  whom  even  Alexis 
does  not  surpass. ^ 

Mathilde  Mohring,  a  novel  which  is  published  in  the  posthu- 
mous volume  of  Fontane's  works,^  offers  striking  parallels  to 
that  part  of  the  Heart  of  Midlothian  which  is  concerned  with 
Jeanie  Deans.  Ettlinger  in  his  excellent  introduction  to  the 
story  states  that  this  work  of  Fontane's  which  exists  only  in 
the  first  version,  (Niederschrift) ,  was  written  in  189 1,  in  the 
author's  richest  period  of  production."*  It  is  significant  that 
Mathilde  Mohring  was  thus  conceived  at  the  time  when  Effi 
Briest  occupied  the  foreground  of  the  poet's  attention.^  If  the 
tragic  transgression  of  the  gay,  irresponsible  Efifie  Deans 
reminds  us  of  the  fate  of  Effi  Briest,  the  plain,  dutiful  life  and 
nature  of  her  sensible  sister  Jeanie  reminds  us  of  Mathilde 
Mohring's  purposeful  activity.  As  Gaebel  points  out,^  the 
Heart  of  Midlothian  begins  as  a  tragedy  and  ends  as  an  idyll. 
It  is  the  idyllic  part,  of  which  Jeanie  is  the  center,  that  may 
well  have  suggested  the  figure  of  Mathilde  to  Fontane. 
Wandrey  surmises^  that  one  reason  for  the  postponement  of 
the  completion  of  Mathilde  Mohring^  which  was  practically 
finished  in  the  first  version  of  1891,  except  for  the  ending  and 
details  of  diction,  and  which  seems  to  have  promised  to  become 
a  novel  of  some  length,  was  that  the  poet  could  put  more  of 
his  own  solution  of  life's  problems  into  Effi  Briest. 

Mathilde  Mohring,  as  the  author  left  it,  occupies  a  unique 
position  among  his  works.  In  it  there  are  no  differences  of 
class  or  temperament  or  age  to  form  insurmountable  barriers 

2  Cf.  letter,  April  24,  1880.     W,  2,  XI,  6.     Cf.  also  above,  p.  34. 
3W.  2,  IX.    Iff. 

*  lUd.,  p.  XII. 

5  Effi.  Briest  was  begun  1889,  completed  1895. 

*  Kurt  Gaebel,  Beitrdge  zur  Technik  der  Erzdhlung  in  den  Romanen  Walter 
Scotts.     Marburger  Studien  zur  englischen  Philologie.   Heft.  2,  1901,  S.  51. 

">  Op.  cit.,  p.  248. 


58       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

between  the  lovers,  as  is  the  case  in  Effi  Briest  and  others  of 
Fontane's  novels  of  this  kind.  Furthermore,  we  are  given  in 
Mathilde  Mohring  straightforward  action,  without  the  usual 
discussion  of  ethical  or  social  problems.  But  the  idyllic,  toward 
which  the  story,  as  it  stands,  inevitably  tends,  was  not  Fon- 
tane's peculiar  province.  In  the  majority  of  his  novels  the 
characters  suffer  shipwreck  because  their  aims  and  ambi- 
tions,— which  may  in  themselves  be  entirely  justified, — con- 
flict with  the  immutable  order  of  things  in  the  world.  The  poet 
appears  to  have  tried  unsuccessfully  to  bring  this  story  within 
his  range  by  introducing  a  tragic  touch  at  the  end  (in  the 
death  of  Thilde's  husband  from  exposure),  and  by  punish- 
ing Thilde  for  her  presumption  in  seeking  to  rise  above  her 
sphere. 

While  it  would  be  presumptuous  to  claim  that  Fontane 
dehberately  modelled  Mathilde  Mohring  on  Jeanie  Deans, — 
for  that  he  was  too  mature  and  too  original, — nevertheless,  he 
may  well  have  been  prompted  by  Scott's  heroine  to  treat  a 
psychologically-related  Berlin  type,  which  he  knew  well,  to 
place  her  in  a  certain  position,  and  to  watch  developments. 

If  we  make  due  allowance  for  the  difference  in  technique, 
nature  and  scene  of  Mathilde  Mohring  and  the  Heart  of  Mid- 
lothian, we  shall  find  a  striking  parallelism  in  the  story,  and 
especially  in  the  character  of  the  Berlin  Kleinhiirgerin  and  the 
Scottish  peasant  lass.  In  each  case  a  plain,  but  acutely  intel- 
ligent, practical  girl  in  humble  and  straightened  circum- 
stances greatly  improves  the  fortunes  of  herself  and  her  family 
by  an  unusual  and  daring  action,  which  leads  her  out  of  her 
narrow  world  into  higher  social  spheres.  Capable  and  strong- 
willed,  but  with  little  education  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
word,  she  is  yet  by  her  own  efforts  responsible  for  the  rise  of  the 
learned,  yet  weaker,  impractical  lover,  who  later  becomes  her 
husband. 


MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  59 

Mathilde  marries  the  Mohring  lodger,  Hugo  Grossmann,  a 
law  student,  possessing  but  little  energy  or  initiative.  With  in- 
finite tact  and  skill  the  girl  gets  this  dreamer  past  his  law  ex- 
amination, secures  for  him  the  position  of  mayor  of  a  "ismall 
West  Prussian  town, — and  as  the  power  behind  the  throne, 
makes  her  husband  efficient  and  popular  with  all  classes  of 
citizens.  Jeanie  Deans,  on  her  own  initiative,  travels  to  Lon- 
don, where  she  obtains  the  king's  pardon  for  her  sister,  con- 
demned to  death  for  infanticide.  At  the  same  time  she  gains 
through  her  sturdy  native  winsomeness  and  unabashed  good 
sense  the  favor  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  who  makes  the  fortune  of 
herself,  her  family  and  her  lover,  the  delicate,  impractical, 
nervous  clergyman,  Reuben  Butler. 

Thilde  and  Jeanie  occupy  corresponding  positions  in  the 
social  scale, — the  former  is  the  daughter  of  a  Berlin  book- 
keeper, the  latter,  of  an  intelligent  tenant  farmer.  Both  girls 
grow  up  in  straightened  circumstances,  a  fact  which  strength- 
ens and  develops  an  inherent  practicality.  Mathilde  Mohring 
lives  with  her  widowed  mother,  who  is  as  dependent  as  a  child 
on  her  daughter,  and  the  narrow  income  of  the  two  is  eked  out 
by  taking  lodgers.  The  girl's  capability  is  reflected  in  the 
ways  in  which  she  manages  even  the  smallest  household  duties. 
On  the  other  hand,  Jeanie  Deans  has  been  trained  from  her 
earliest  years  to  efficiency  in  common  tasks, ^  and  after  the 
death  of  her  step-mother  Jeanie  becomes  a  second  mother  to 
her  half-sister,  the  willful,  mischievous  Effie. 

Neither  Mathilde  nor  Jeanie  is  attractive  in  the  conven- 
tional sense  of  the  word.  It  is  rather  their  intelligence  and 
healthy-mi ndedness  which  make  a  pleasing  impression  on  all 
whom  they  meet.  Thilde  is  described  as  neat  and  energetic, 
but  without  charm.   Jeanie  too  lacks  the  usual  attributes  of 

8  She  herds  cattle  and  sheep  and  is  able  on  one  occasion  to  protect  her  bookish 
playmate  Butler  from  the  disastrous  consequences  of  neglecting  his  field  duties. 


60     V  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

beauty,  and  is  depicted  as  serene  rather  than  beautiful.  She  is 
quite  eclipsed  by  her  handsome,  popular  sister.  The  author  in 
each  case  has  given  his  character  a  certain  sobriety  in  appear- 
ance and  conduct.  Thilde  and  Jeanie  are  sober  even  in  their 
love,  although  by  no  means  lacking  in  affection. 

The  core  of  the  relationship  of  the  two  figures  really  rests  in 
their  character.  One  might  almost  consider  them  nation- 
al types.  Hugo  sums  up  Thilde:  "not  really  beautiful, 
.  .  .  but  clever  and  brave,  ...  a  genuine  German  girl,  full 
of  character,  a  person,  who  must  make  everyone  happy,  and 
of  a  great  depth  of  feehng,  mental  and  moral."  ^  Jeanie  Deans, 
too,  unlike  Scott's  conventional,  idealized  female  characters 
from  the  higher  walks  of  life,  can  stand  as  a  good  representative 
of  her  countrywomen. 

Both  Thilde  and  Jeanie  are  simple  and  sound,  of  an  un- 
complicated mental  and  psychic  constitution.  They  face  no 
psychological  conflicts,  no  doubts  nor  hesitations  in  the  diffi- 
cult positions  into  which  they  are  thrust ;  the  motive  power  for 
their  unusual  activity  is  furnished  by  their  strong  sense  of 
duty.  Finally,  it  is  native  intelligence  and  tact  which  guides 
each  heroine  along  her  thorny  road  and  which  enables  her  to 
cope  with  every  situation  which  arises, — Mathilde  among  the 
dignitaries  of  the  West  Prussian  town  and  Jeanie  as  a  sup- 
plicant before  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  Moreover,  their  innate 
good  sense  never  allows  the  success  of  their  plans  to  overcome 
their  natural  modesty  and  sense  of  propriety. 

Besides  Vor  dem  Sturm  and  Mathilde  Mohring  four  other 
novels  of  Fontane  show  distinct  traces  of  Scott  influence,  the 
German  author's  indebtedness  ranging  in  extent  from  a  whole 
scene  in  Crete  Minde  to  the  general  atmosphere  in  Graf  Petofy, 

•  op.  cit.,  p.  41. 


MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  6 1 

The  novels  under  consideration  will  be  treated  in  chronological 
sequence. 

A  minor  point  of  motive  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  which  suggests 
Waverley  influence  should,  however,  be  mentioned  first.  The 
military  engagement  in  Frankfort  on  the  Oder  in  this  novel  and 
the  battle  of  Bothwell  Bridge  in  Old  Mortality  occupy  analo- 
gous functions  in  the  respective  novels.  The  general  situation  is 
the  same — ^the  Prussian  rebellion  against  the  Napoleonic  yoke 
corresponds  to  the  uprising  of  the  Scotch  Covenanters  against 
Charles  II.  Both  battles  come  near  the  end  of  the  story  and 
each  marks  a  turning-point  in  the  career  of  the  hero.  The 
insurgents  are  defeated  and  the  hero  sentenced  to  death,^° 
but  he  is  saved  by  a  faithful,  humble  adherent. ^^ 

Crete  Minde 

In  the  dramatic  final  scene  of  Fontane's  Crete  Minde  (1880) 
there  is  a  strong  suggestion  of  an  analogous  scene  in  Scott's 
Ivanhoe.  Fontane's  story,  which  bears  the  subtitle  nach  einer 
altmdrkischen  Chronik,  is  full  of  romantic  elements.  One  of 
these,  the  story  of  the  woman  who  is  refused  her  inheritance 
by  a  grasping  relative,  and  who  in  revenge  sets  fire  to  the  town 
of  Tangermiinde,  Fontane  probably  found  in  the  old  seven- 
teenth-century chronicles  of  Helmreich  and  Ritner.^^  The 
poet,  however,  could  not  allow  his  heroine  to  end  as  did  the 
historical  Crete,  who  died  at  the  stake  on  March  22,  1619,  for 
her  alleged  crime.  Fontane  has  deepened  and  strengthened  the 
motivation  of  his  central  character,  Crete,  and  also  removed 

1"  In  Old  Mortality,  to  be  sure,  by  fanatics  in  his  own  army. 

"It  should  be  noted  that  Old  Mortality  is  one  of  the  very  few  Waverley 
Novels  in  which  the  hero  passes  through  some  psychological  development. 
Henry  Morton,  a  mild-tempered  youth  like  Lewin  and  Waverley,  becomes 
through  the  power  of  circumstances  a  forceful  man. 

«  Cf.  Crete  Minde,  edited  by  H.  W.  Thayer,  p.  XXIII. 


62  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

the  criminal  elements  prominent  in  the  sources.  As  he  shapes 
the  story,  Grete  returns  from  her  wanderings  to  seek  asylum 
for  herself  and  child  with  her  half-brother,  Gerdt.  But  the 
latter  stubbornly  refuses  this  and  also  denies  his  sister's  right  to 
her  inheritance.  In  addition  to  this,  he  persuades  the  town 
councilors  to  reject  Grete *s  suit  when  she  brings  it  before  them. 
At  night  the  girl,  her  mind  unhinged  by  the  wrongs  she  has 
suffered,  starts  a  conflagration,  humming  nursery  rhymes  as  the 
blaze  spreads.  Completely  insane,  she  takes  advantage  of  the 
ensuing  confusion  to  seize  her  brother's  little  boy.  With  this 
child  and  her  own  she  mounts  high  up  into  a  church  tower.  All 
eyes  are  drawn  to  the  trio,  sharply  illuminated  by  the  brilliance 
of  the  fire,  when  suddenly  the  church  collapses. 

In  Scott's  Ivanhoe,  Ulrica  is  an  old  Saxon  crone,  who  plays 
an  important  role  in  the  siege  of  Torquilstone.  Years  before  the 
time  of  the  story,  her  father  and  brothers  had  been  slain  by 
Front  de  Bceuf's  father,  who  seized  her  as  well  as  the  castle 
Torquilstone  as  booty.  Now,  when  the  castle  is  hard  pressed 
by  the  besieging  Saxons,  the  old  woman  sets  fire  to  the  building 
from  within,  and  when  the  Norman  lord  of  the  castle,  the  dy- 
ing Front  de  Boeuf,  calls  for  a  priest,  instead  of  the  ghostly 
father,  the  woman  whom  he  and  his  family  have  wronged, 
appears  to  gloat  over  his  suffering.  Having  then  informed  her 
victim  of  the  state  of  affairs,  Ulrica  locks  him  in  his  room,  and 
when  the  fire  has  gained  a  secure  foothold  in  the  castle,  the  hag 
makes  her  appearance  on  a  turret  singing  in  maniacal  glee. 
Her  figure  is  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes,  when  suddenly  the  turret 
collapses. 

Graf  Petofy 

There  are  also  distinct  and  unmistakable  reflections  of  Scott 
in  Graf  Petofy  (1884).  In  this  novel,  in  which  Fontane  shifts 
the  scene  of  the  story  from  familiar  Brandenburg  to  the  alien 


MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  63 

soil  of  Austria  and  Hungary,  certain  of  the  exotic  effects  re- 
mind the  reader  of  Scott.  To  Count  Petofy's  young  wife,  the 
North  German  Franziska,  everything  in  her  new  Hungarian 
home  is  totally  strange.  The  peculiar  customs  of  the  country, 
the  castle  and  its  history,  popular  legends  and  the  picturesque 
environs  of  Arpa  we  see  through  Franziska's  eyes  very  much  as 
Scott  in  such  novels  as  Waverley  and  Rob  Roy  presents  new 
scenes  and  manners  through  the  eyes  of  his  hero.^^ 

One  episode  in  particular  in  Graf  Petofy  is  strongly  reminis- 
cent of  Scott.  When  it  is  reported  that  the  gardener's  daughter 
at  Arpa  has  been  kidnapped  by  a  wicked  old  woman  who 
sprang  out  from  behind  a  bush,  a  search  is  instituted  for  the 
girl.  Franziska  and  her  husband's  nephew,  separated  from  the 
rest  of  the  party,  are  caught  and  nearly  drowned  in  a  storm  on 
the  lake  and  forced  to  land  on  an  island,  where  they  pass  the 
night.  Recounting  the  events  at  the  castle  the  next  day,  Fran- 
ziska says :  "Really,  everything  was  half  fairy  tale,  half  Walter 
Scott."  H 

Another  point  in  Graf  Petofy  suggests  the  influence  of  Scott. 
On  the  day  when  the  wedding  party  first  arrived  at  Arpa  a  bell 
which  was  ringing  out  a  welcome  suddenly  cracked.  The  bride 
took  this  occurrence  as  a  bad  omen.  Later,  when  Franziska 
returns  to  Arpa  after  the  suicide  of  her  husband,  the  bell,  which 
has  in  the  meantime  been  repaired,  rings  once  more.  There  is  a 
similar  bell-symbolism  in  Rob  Roy.  When  King  William 
landed  in  England,  the  old  dinner-bell  at  Osbaldistone  Hall 
cracks,  and  the  staunch  Jacobite,  Sir  Hildebrand,  does  not 
permit  it  to  be  mended. 

13  C/.  Waverley's  visit  to  the  Scotch  Highlands, — Waverley,  Chap.  XVII 
ff.,  also  Francis  Osbaldistone's  Sunday  in  Glasgow, — Rob  Roy,  Chap.  XIX 
and  XX. 

»  W.  I.  IV.  197. 


64  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

QUITT 

The  character  of  THermite  in  Quitt  (1891)  probably  owes 
some  features  to  Tristan  THermite  in  Scott's  Quentin  Durward, 
a  book  which  as  a  favorite  of  Fontane's  father  must  have  be- 
come familiar  to  Theodor  from  his  boyhood  in  Swinemiinde.^*' 
Camille  I'Hermite,  or  Monsieur  I'Hermite,  as  he  is  generally 
called,  is  an  episodic  figure  in  the  second  part  of  Fontane's 
work.  He  has  found  refuge  in  the  Mennonite  colony  at  Nogat- 
Ehre  in  the  United  States,  where  a  number  of  peculiar  figures 
have  congregated.  L'Hermite  is  a  fanatic,  a  hatcher  of  vision- 
ary schemes,  who  is  working  for  a  universal  panacea,  the  rule 
of  the  "idea."  As  a  leader  of  the  French  Commune,  he  gave  the 
order  to  have  the  Archbishop  of  Paris  shot.  Himself  con- 
demned to  death,  he  made  a  miraculous  escape. 

In  Quentin  Durward,  on  the  other  hand,  the  bloodthirsty  pro- 
vost-marshal and  chief  hangman  of  Louis  XI  is  called  Tristan 
I'Hermite.^^  He  is  as  anxious  to  obtain  high-born  victims  for  his 
office  as  is  his  namesake  in  Quitt  to  sacrifice  to  his  fanatic  idea 
of  benefiting  humanity  an  archbishop,  an  emperor  or  a  pope.^^ 
Fontane,  to  be  sure,  has  given  his  character  a  number  of  sym- 
pathetic traits ;  he  is  no  mere  butcher  like  Tristan,  but  is  repre- 
sented as  partially  insane. 

Effi  Briest 

Traces  of  Scott  can  be  found  in  Effi  Briest  ( 1 895) .  The  hero- 
ine in  this  novel,  which  contains  a  number  of  romantic  ele- 
ments, bears  the  nickname  Effi.^^  Considering  the  rareness  of 
this  name  and  the  author's  fondness  for  foreign  names  in  his 
novels,  it  is  highly  probable  that  he  borrowed  this  from  Effie 

"W.  2,  II,  106. 

"  It  must  be  admitted  that  Tristan  I'Hermite  was  an  historical  character. 

"W,  I.  VI.  167. 

"  Presumably  the  full  name  is  Euphemia. 


MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  65 

Deans  in  Scott's  Heart  of  Midlothian}^  Even  though  Fontane 
states  that  he  obtained  the  story  of  Effi  Briest  from  a  friend ,2'' 
one  is  tempted  to  think  that  Effie  Deans  supplied  several  traits 
for  his  Effi  Briest.  Both  are  inexperienced,  yet  mischievous, 
exuberant  characters,  whose  environment  becomes  irksome 
and  whose  ultimate  fall  is  to  be  attributed  to  an  attempt  to 
escape  from  ennui  and  monotony.  Moreover,  the  poet  writes 
that  the  appearance  of  his  heroine  was  suggested  by  the  dress 
of  two  English  Methodists, ^^  a  fact  which  would  call  to  mind 
the  daughters  of  the  strict  Presbyterian,  David  Deans. 

Narrative  Style  and  Technique 

Fontane,  unlike  an  author  of  the  type  of  Gottfried  Keller, 
the  naive  writer,  was  a  conscious  artist,  a  stylist. ^^  He  ob- 
tained the  subtle  effects  in  the  technique  of  his  novels  by  care- 
ful calculation.  This  virtuosity  can  be  observed  in  many 
aspects  of  the  poet's  works, — in  the  dialogue  of  his  subordi- 
nate figures,  in  the  wit  and  finesse  of  the  speech  of  his  edu- 
cated characters,  also  in  his  technique  of  foreshadowing  and 
suggestion,  etc. 

As  there  are  evidences  of  romantic  subject-matter  even  in 
the  later  novels  of  Fontane,  so  there  is  an  approach  to  the 
technique  of  the  romanticists  in  many  of  his  works.  Among 
these  points  may  be  cited  the  following :  the  author  addresses 
himself  directly  to  the  reader;  many  of  the  novels  contain 
letters;   lyrics  are  scattered  through  many  of  the  works;  the 

18  Euphemia  Deans  is  also  called  Phemi.  C/.  Fontane's  character  Phemi  La 
Grange  in  Graf  Petofy. 

20  Letter,  March  2,  1895.     W,  2,  XI,  341. 

21  Ibid.,  p.  342. 

22  This  fact  accounts  for  Fontane's  inability  to  enjoy  fully  the  works  of  the 
Swiss  author  (cf.  Chap.  Ill),  and  also  for  his  admiration  of  the  form  of  French 
novels. 


66       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

author  displays  a  fondness  for  romantic  characters  and  scenes, 
etc. 

Since  Fontane  shows  points  of  similarity  to  Scott  in  the 
subject-matter  of  his  novels,  we  might  expect  to  find  some  in- 
fluence of  the  British  author  in  technique.  Before  reaching  a 
conclusion,  however,  it  will  be  wise,  to  consider  first  whether 
Fontane  may  not  have  had  other  sources  for  his  stylistic  pe- 
culiarities.23 

First  of  all,  the  German  author's  interest  in  the  ballad  must 
be  taken  into  account.  It  would  be  strange  indeed  if  Fontane 's 
long  occupation  with  this  form  had  left  no  traces  in  his  prose 
works.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  distinct  marks  of  ballad 
influence  in  a  number  of  Fontane's  novels.  Crete  Minde  and 
Ellernklipp  could  with  little  difficulty  be  re-written  as  ballads. 
As  Ettlinger  states, ^'^  the  former  suggests  an  old  popular  ballad 
and  the  latter  a  gloomy  ballad  by  Hebbel.  It  might  also  be 
claimed  that  other  novels  of  Fontane,  viz.,  Quitt,  Unwieder- 
hringlich,  Cecile  and  Efi  Briest,  partake  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree  of  the  nature  of  the  ballad.  The  earmarks  of  this  genre 
may  be  outlined  as  follows:  The  tragic  story  is  simple  and 
sharply  outlined,  the  gloomy  atmosphere  is  often  heightened 
by  suggestions  of  the  supernatural  and  the  reader  is  made  to 
feel  that  the  destiny  meted  out  to  the  actors  is  inescapable, 
hence  the  author  does  not  sentimentalize  over  their  fate. 
Furthermore,  at  critical  junctures  the  author  passes  over 
several  years,  and  avoids  presenting  directly  crises,  whether  of 
passions  or  events,  preferring  to  enlighten  the  reader  by  in- 
direct means. 

The  possible  influence  of  the  German  romanticists  must  also 

"  Kricker,  op.  cit.,  to  whom  I  am  largely  indebted  in  this  part  of  my  study, 
has  investigated  the  technique  of  Fontane's  novels  very  thoroughly. 

"  Theodor  Fontane.  Vol.  XVIII  of  series  Die  Literatur,  edited  by  Georg 
Brandes.  p.  19. 


MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  67 

be  considered  when  examining  Fontane's  technique.  However, 
Fontanels  letters  and  autobiographical  works  do  not  indicate 
that  he  felt  much  indebtedness  in  this  direction.  Moreover, 
the  style  of  the  German  romanticists,  as  well  as  that  of  Alexis, 
is  so  absolutely  different  from  Fontane's  as  to  exclude  the  idea 
of  his  dependence  on  them.  What  might  seem  to  be  a  romantic 
freedom  of  form  in  his  novels  is  largely  rooted  in  the  poet's 
manner  of  composition.  He  had  the  habit  of  loosening  the 
structure  of  his  novels  by  the  insertion  of  anecdotes  and  epi- 
sodes. Although  the  author  always  worked  very  painstakingly, 
he  had  his  own  ideas  regarding  the  technique  of  his  fiction. ^^ 
This  is  especially  true  of  Vor  dem  Sturm,  the  composition  of 
which  falls  in  the  period  when  the  poet  was  working  on  the 
first  volumes  of  his  Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark  Branden- 
burg}^  "Indeed,"  says  Wandrey,  "the  world  of  his  novels  is 
deeply  indebted  to  the  Wanderungen,  the  beginning  and  portal 
of  which,  Vor  dem  Sturm,  is  by  no  means  conceivable  without 
them."  27  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  stylistic  methods  employed 
by  the  author  of  the  Wanderungen  explain  at  least  three  points 
of  technique,  particularly  in  Fontane's  early  fiction,  which  one 
would  otherwise  be  inclined  to  attribute  to  the  influence  of  the 
Waverley  Novels. 

The  first  point  of  similarity  to  Scott  is  found  in  Fontane's 
custom  of  describing  places  as  they  appear  to  a  visitor,  par- 
ticularly to  the  hero  on  his  return  home  after  an  extended 
absence.2^    Examples  of  this  which   appear  in  the  German 

26  Fontane  defends  Vor  dem  Sturm  against  the  charge  of  the  violation  of  the 
law  of  epic  style  (episches  Stilgesetz),  according  to  which  the  author  should  not 
come  between  the  reader  and  his  narrative,  by  appealing  to  the  example  of  the 
"most  famous  and  most  charming"  English  novelists.  Cf.  letter,  Jan.  14,  1879. 
W,  2.  X,  405. 

28  Die  Grafschaft  Ruppin,  1862;  Das  Oderland,  1863;  Havelland,  1873. 

27  Op.  cit.,  p.  88. 

28  Cf.  Kricker,  op.  cit.,  pp.  57,  70. 


68       WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

author  are  Hohen-Vietz  in  Vor  dem  Sturm,^^  Castle  Wuthe- 
now  in  Schach  von  Wuthenow,^^  and  Stechlin  in  Der  Stechlin?^ 
Similar  examples  from  Scott  are  TuUy-Veolan  in  Waverley?^ 
and  Monkbarn's  estate  in  the  Antiquary P  The  circumstances 
of  Schach's  flight  to  Wuthenow  remind  us  especially  of  Henry 
Morton's  return  to  Milnwood  in  Old  Mortality.^*  However  it  is 
more  probable  that  Fontane  simply  adopted  the  mode  of 
description  used  so  naturally  and  so  often  by  the  wanderer 
through  the  Mark  Brandenburg. 

In  his  earlier  novels,  especially  Vor  dem  Sturm ,  Fontane 
often  acts  as  intermediary  between  his  characters  and  the 
reader.  He  uses  the  phrases  "our  hero,"  "our  friend,"  "before- 
mentioned,"  etc.  Sometimes  the  reader  is  addressed  directly, 
as  the  following  examples  from  Vor  dem  Sturm  will  show:  "In 
the  hall  there  are  still  some  brands  smoldering;  let  us  heap  on 
pine-cones  and  chat  ...  of  Hohen-Vietz."  ^^  "Since  we  have 
nowhere  in  the  long  course  of  our  story  been  able  to  discover  a 
point  which  would  afford  space  for  a  biographical  sketch  under 
the  title  'Aunt  Schorlemmer,'  we  consider  the  moment  come  to 
discharge  our  duty  toward  this  excellent  lady."  ^^  "The  course 
of  our  story  takes  us  during  the  next  chapters  from  Hohen- 
Vietz  to  .    .    .    ."37 

As  Kricker  states,  these  technical  devices  suggest  at  the 
first  glance  Scott,  in  whose  novels  they  are  extremely  com- 
mon,^^  but  it  is  even  more  probable  that  here  again  the  poet  is 
influenced  by  the  style  of  the  Wanderungen. 

"  Chap.  I. 

80  Chap.  XIV. 

81  Chap.  II. 

32  Chaps.  VIII  and  IX. 

8»Chap.  III. 

8«  Chap.  XXXIX. 

"W.I,  I.  12. 

»•  P.  SI. 

"  p.  154. 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  75- 


MINOR  INFLUENCES  OF  SCOTT  69 

A  third  point  of  technique  which  suggests  Scott's  novels  Is 
Fontane's  peculiar  method  of  introducing  the  characters  in 
his  earlier  novels,  especially  Vor  dent  Sturm.  The  author  gives 
a  fairly  complete  sketch,  often  with  a  brief  biography,  of  per- 
sons before  they  are  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  action.  Ex- 
amples are:  "Berndt  von  Vitzewitz," ^^  "Hoppenmarieken," ^<^ 
"Pastor  Seidentopf,"^!  "Allerlei  Freunde."^^ 

Kricker  notes  the  similarity  between  this  method  of  char- 
acter-portraiture and  that  used  by  Scott,  especially  in  the  case 
of  his  minor  characters,^^  but  here  too  it  is  highly  probable  that 
Fontane  has  taken  over  a  customary  procedure  from  his 
Wanderungen,  where  we  are  given  many  portrait-sketches  of 
persons  as  they  are  suggested  by  the  country  and  its  monu- 
ments. 

Kricker  also  compares  the  numerous  parentheses  with  a 
humorous  purpose  in  Fontane  with  similar  effects  in  Scott.^ 
Influence  in  this  point  is  very  improbable,  however,  as  it  is 
chiefly  in  the  novels  of  the  mature,  independent  writer  in 
which  we  find  most  of  these  devices. 

It  is,  in  fact,  precisely  in  his  style  that  Fontane's  title  to 
originality  rests.  We  must  therefore  be  very  cautious  in 
arguing  influences  in  this  regard.  The  subject-matter  in  Fon- 
tane's novels  was  seldom  original  with  him:  he  preferred  to 
treat  actual  events.  It  was  his  mode  of  treatment  that  raised 
him  head  and  shoulders  above  most  of  his  fellow  craftsmen. 

39  Chap.  IV. 
*o  Chap.  VIII. 
«  Chap.  XI. 
«  Chap.  XX. 
*^0p.  cit.,  p.  105. 
**  Ibid.,  p.  76. 


CONCLUSION 

After  investigation  of  the  works  of  Fontane  and  his  relation 
to  England  and  English  literature  it  is  possible  to  outline  with 
some  claim  to  definiteness  the  scope  of  Scott's  influence.  This 
will  be  done  by  traversing  briefly  the  conclusions  recorded  in 
the  different  stages  of  the  present  study. 

In  Swinemiinde,  whither  Fontane's  parents  moved  in 
Theodor's  seventh  year,  the  seeds  of  the  man's  interest  in 
Walter  Scott  were  sown,  for  here  the  boy  first  came  in  contact 
with  the  Waver  ley  Novels.  This  first  contact  came  through 
his  father,  whose  naive  and  charming  personality  the  son 
greatly  admired.  These  seeds  fell  on  fertile  soil,  for  the  boy's 
imagination  had  been  stimulated  by  hearing  English  spoken 
and  by  listening  to  the  strange,  romantic  tales  of  sea-faring 
people,  among  whom  were  Britishers. 

Another  factor  which  must  have  been  potent  in  developing 
young  Fontane's  fondness  for  the  novels  of  Scott  was  his  in- 
terest in  history,  also  in  large  measure  an  heritage  from  his 
father.^  In  the  battle  which  the  author's  first  poem,  "Die 
Schlacht  bei  Hochkirch,"  celebrates  it  is  a  Scotch  hero.  Mar- 
shal Keith,  who  loses  his  life  on  a  Prussian  battlefield. 

In  the  next  few  years,  among  the  many  literary  fashions 
which  the  versatile  young  apothecary  followed,  the  poet's 
occupation  with  English  literature  is  the  one  constant  element. 
This  interest  was  crystallized  and  given  direction  when  in  1844 
Fontane  took  his  first  trip  to  England  and  also  joined  the 
important  Berlin  literary  society,  the  "Tunnel  uber  der  Spree."* 

*  See  above,  p.  i. 
« See  above,  p.  4  f, 

70 


CONCLUSION  71 

For  the  next  eleven  years,  from  1844  to  1855,  prior  to  his  last 
sojourn  in  England,  Fontane  was  primarily  the  author  of  his- 
torical ballads  on  English  and  Scotch  themes.  In  1848  the  dis- 
covery of  Percy's  Reliques  of  Ancient  Poetry  and  Scott's  Min- 
strelsy of  the  Scottish  Border  opened  up  a  new  field  and  intro- 
duced him  to  a  wealth  of  old  ballads,  a  number  of  which  served 
as  models  for  free  translations.  At  the  same  time  Fontane 
translated  poems  by  modern  English  and  Scotch  authors. 
From  this  period  also  there  date  several  dramas  and  stories 
from  English  history.^ 

In  1852  there  began  for  Fontane  his  first  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  English  life  and  institutions.  His  residence  as 
journalist  in  London  in  1852  and  1855-59  exerted  a  profound 
influence  on  his  subsequent  life  and  development  as  an  author."* 
To  the  disagreeable  side  of  his  London  existence,  to  the  lack 
of  Gemiltlichkeit  of  which  he  complains,  the  journalist  was 
reconciled  by  his  appreciation  of  the  educational  value  of  his 
foreign  residence.  Furthermore,  by  a  thorough  familiarity  with 
London  life  Fontane  developed  independence  and  self-con- 
fidence. At  the  same  time  he  tired  of  the  journalistic  grind, 
and  feeling  the  stir  of  the  creative  impulse  within  him,  he  was 
glad  to  return  home  in  1859  when  the  Manteuffel  ministry 
collapsed. 

Of  the  three  collections  of  feuilletons  which  grew  out  of  Fon- 
tane's  journalistic  activity  abroad,  Ein  Sommer  in  London 
(1854)  is  important,  since  it  gives  a  fairly  complete  presenta- 
tion of  the  author's  reaction  to  English  life  and  institutions, 
which  was  but  little  modified  in  later  years.  Preferring  Eng- 
land's romantic  past  to  its  commercial  present,  Fontane  was 
particularly  interested  in  the  many  historical  monuments,  for 

3  In  fragmentary  form  or  not  included  in  the  later  editions  of  the  author's 
works. 

*  See  above.  Chap.  II. 


72  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

these  represented  to  him  a  phase  of  British  life  which  had 
passed  away.  Indeed,  the  journaHst  beHeved  he  saw  signs  of 
decadence  in  the  nation;  in  his  opinion  "merry  old  England" 
had  given  way  to  the  "money-making  people  of  the  nine- 
teenth century."^  Nor  could  the  manifestations  of  political 
democracy,  so  unlike  anything  in  the  Germany  of  that  time, 
impress  him  favorably,  for  social  democracy,  in  which  he  was 
chiefly  interested,  he  missed  entirely  in  England. 

Jenseit  des  Tweed  (i860),  another  collection  of  feuilletons 
from  this  period,  contains  a  description  of  the  author's  jour- 
ney through  Scotland  in  1858.  Here  the  poet  felt  more  at 
home  than  in  England,  partly  because  in  this  relatively  back- 
ward country  the  present  was  not  yet  significant  enough  to 
dim  the  brilliance  of  its  beloved  and  honored  past.  In  Scotland 
Fontane  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  visit  the  monu- 
ments of  his  favorites,  Mary  Stuart  and  the  Douglases;  but  it  is 
Walter  Scott  who  is  for  him  the  arch-magician,  lending  en- 
chantment alike  to  buildings  and  battlefields,  ancient  towns 
and  picturesque  country-sides. 

Journeying  through  a  section  of  the  Scotland  which  is 
important  as  the  birthplace  of  great  men,  our  traveler  is 
reminded  of  a  similar  country  at  home  in  the  Mark  Branden- 
burg, and  so  the  idea  of  the  Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark 
Brandenburg  is  conceived.  Thus  the  trip  through  Scotland 
gave  shape  and  direction  to  the  creative  impulses  arising 
during  the  later  years  of  Fontane 's  London  residence. 

There  is  little  to  be  added  to  the  German  author's  attitude 
toward  things  British  as  presented  in  these  two  collections 
of  feuilletons:  tested  by  his  last,  autobiographical  novel  Der 
Stechlin  (1898),  his  opinions  of  the  island  empire  underwent 
no  perceptible  change. 

Fontane  learned  a  great  deal  from  English  literature,  just 

*£»n  Sommer  in  London.     W,  2,  IV,  27. 


CONCLUSION  73 

how  much,  still  remains  largely  to  be  determined.  The 
poet's  admiration  of  ancient  British  ballads  and  the  writings 
of  Shakespeare,  Burns  and  Scott  has  already  been  noted. 
But  in  addition  to  these  works,  he  was  fond  of  the  English 
humorists,  especially  Thackeray  and  Dickens,  but  also  of 
Smollett,  Fielding  and  Sterne. 

Scott's  influence  in  Germany,  at  its  height  in  Fontane's 
youth,  led  to  countless  imitations.  Whereas  the  many  hacks 
following  in  the  British  author's  footsteps  imitated  merely 
his  external  romantic  technique,  the  serious  writers  of  his- 
torical novels  usually  wrote  with  a  national  basis.  Chief 
among  the  latter  was  Alexis,  who  in  his  patriotic  novels 
developed  the  history  of  the  Mark  Brandenburg.  With  this 
writer  Fontane  is  naturally  associated,  since  both  followed 
the  Scott  tradition  in  their  patriotic  labors  as  poets  of  Brand- 
enburg. 

In  a  series  of  essays,  the  most  important  of  which  is  devoted 
to  Alexis,  Fontane's  attitude  toward  the  historical  novel  is 
set  forth  in  some  detail.  Here  the  critic  compares  Alexis 
and  Scott  in  their  treatment  of  the  historical  novel,  almost 
always  commending  Scott  as  the  desirable  model.® 

When  we  come  to  study  the  content  of  Fontane's  fiction, 
we  find  many  points  of  indebtedness  to  Scott,  although  the 
direct  influence  of  the  Waverley  Novels  on  the  stories  of  the 
German  writer  is  confined  chiefly  to  Vor  dem  Sturm.  This 
novel  contains  a  number  of  points  of  similarity  with  Waverley. 
One  formula  expresses  the  outlines  of  plot  in  both  works. 
The  young,  inexperienced  hero  is  first  captivated  by  the 
charms  of  a  brilliant,  worldly  girl.  However,  the  latter  does 
not  return  his  affection,  although  her  relative  favors  the 
match  in  order  to  advance  his  own  ambitions.    In  the  stress 

« For  a  discussion  of  Fontane's  technique  in  his  first  historical  novel  Vor  dem 
Sturm,  see  above,  p.  35  ff. 


74  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

of  the  campaign  the  hero  first  realizes  his  love  for  the  modest, 
naive  girl  who  has  loved  him  from  the  beginning. 

The  four  figures,  the  chief  participants  in  this  action,  are 
very  similar  in  both  novels.  The  heroes  of  Vor  dem  Sturm 
and  Waverley,  Lewin  von  Vitzewitz  and  Edward  Waverley, 
are  romantic  dreamers  with  literary  tastes.  Hence  they 
both  make  poor  soldiers  and  are  averse  to  society.  Their 
true  ideal  both  finally  realize  in  domestic  happiness.  The 
hero's  first  love,  Kathinka  Ladalinski  and  Flora  Maclvor, 
Pole  and  Celt,  respectively  represent  to  him  the  romantic 
and  the  exotic.  Worldly  and  ambitious,  these  girls  quickly 
gain  an  ascendancy  over  the  inexperienced  youth.  The  hero's 
true-love,  Marie  Kniehase  and  Rose  Bradwardine,  the  naive 
girls,  are  contrasted  by  the  authors  with  their  brilliant  rivals 
in  the  affection  of  the  hero.  Shy  and  domestic,  feeling  is 
more  important  with  them  than  intellect,  and  their  love  for 
the  hero  develops  gradually  from  association  and  admiration. 
The  latter,  however,  for  a  long  time  is  not  conscious  of  more 
than  platonic  regard  for  the  domestic  girl,  and  he  does  not 
declare  his  love  for  her  until  this  sentiment  has  been  crys- 
tallized by  a  military  crisis. 

The  fourth  character  in  the  common  plot,  Geheimrat  Ladal- 
inski and  Fergus  Maclvor,  respectively  father  and  brother 
of  the  brilliant  girl,  is  an  ambitious  man,  who  hopes  to  ad- 
vance himself  through  the  marriage  of  the  girl  to  the  hero. 
He  is,  however,  doomed  to  disappointment. 

Besides  the  four  characters  already  mentioned,  another 
figure,  Hoppenmarieken,  the  old  hag  in  Vor  dem  Sturm,  owes 
much  to  Waverley  prototypes.  She  bears  most  resemblance 
to  the  gypsy  Meg  Merrilies  in  Guy  Mannering.  Both  out- 
casts, favored  by  the  nobleman  of  the  district,  evince  a  great 
fondness  for  the  hero;  both  promote  the  latter 's  fortune 
through  their  magic  powers,  and  both  finally  sacrifice  their 


CONCLUSION  75 

lives  in  his  behalf.''  Hoppenmarieken  as  news-purveyor  and 
jester  also  probably  owes  some  traits  to  the  picturesque 
beggar,  Edie  Ochiltree  in  the  Antiquary. 

A  sixth  figure  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  which  owes  much  to  a 
Waverley  model  is  Seidentopf,  who  bears  a  striking  similarity 
to  Oldbuck,  the  central  figure  in  the  Antiquary.  Both  men 
are  amateur  antiquaries,  and  the  character  of  each  is  presented 
in  a  humorous  light.  Each  has  a  boon  companion  of  a  con- 
trasting type,  who  is  a  less  serious  antiquary,  and  against 
the  latter  each  defends  his  pet  thesis,  that  the  origin  of  his 
native  country  is  Germanic.  Furthermore,  an  antiquarian 
dispute  in  Vor  dem  Sturm  has  a  close  parallel  in  a  similar 
scene  in  the  Antiqvxiry. 

Still  another  feature  in  Vor  dem  Sturm,  the  history  of  the 
Vitzewitz  family,  corresponds  to  an  element  in  a  Waverley 
novel,  viz.,  the  story  of  the  Wardour  ancestors  in  the  Anti- 
quary. Many  years  prior  to  the  time  of  the  novel  a  brothers* 
quarrel  has  divided  the  house  and  since  then  misfortune  has 
pursued  the  family.  However,  rhymed  prophecies  spring  up, 
predicting  an  improvement  in  the  fortunes  of  the  race,  which 
is  to  come  as  the  result  of  a  striking  event.  This  prophecy 
is  fulfilled  in  each  novel  through  the  aid  of  an  outcast  mes- 
senger. Guy  Mannering  also  contains  a  similar  prophecy 
which  is  fulfilled  in  the  same  way. 

In  Mathilde  Mohring,  the  slender  realistic  novel,  published 
in  the  posthumous  volume  of  Fontane's  works,  the  author 
has  attempted  to  do  for  his  heroine  what  Scott  achieved  in 
the  character  of  Jeanie  Deans  in  the  Heart  of  Midlothian. 
Both  Thilde  and  Jeanie  represent  psychologically-related 
national  types.    Although  they  belong  to  the  lower  ranks  of 

'  To  be  sure,  Fontane  in  the  more  realistic  Vor  dem  Sturm  cannot  allow  Hop- 
penmarieken as  much  power  as  does  Scott  in  the  case  of  his  almost  omnipotent 
Meg  Merrilies. 


76  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

society  in  their  respective  countries,  these  girls  with  their 
sound,  uncomplicated  and  dutiful  natures  nevertheless  suc- 
ceed in  overcoming  the  difficult  obstacles  in  their  way  and 
in  raising  themselves  and  those  near  them  to  a  more  eminent 
position  in  the  world.  Both  Thilde  and  Jeanie  are  practical 
and  efficient,  sober  in  appearance  and  conduct,  and  yet  at- 
tractive because  of  their  intelligence. 

In  addition  to  the  more  important  points  of  contact  be- 
tween Scott  and  Fontane  already  mentioned,  there  are  a 
number  of  minor  and  yet  significant  matters  in  the  German 
author's  novels  which  betray  the  influence  of  Scott.  In  Vor 
dem  Sturm  the  battle  of  Frankfort  on  the  Oder  and  the  sub- 
sequent fate  of  the  hero  point  to  similar  scenes  in  Old  Mortality. 
The  striking  fire-scene  at  the  end  of  Crete  Minde  seems  to 
have  been  suggested  by  the  burning  of  Torquilstone  in  Ivanhoe. 
The  figure.  Monsieur  I'Hermite  in  Quitt  is  probably  based 
on  the  character  of  Tristan  I'Hermite,  the  executioner  in 
Quentin  Durward.  Graf  Petofy  shows  evidences  of  general 
Scott  influences,  while  Effi  Briest  is  indebted  to  Effie  Deans 
in  the  Heart  of  Midlothian  for  her  name  and  perhaps  for 
certain  traits  of  character. 

A  number  of  points  in  the  technique  of  Fontane 's  early 
novels  suggest  the  influence  of  the  romanticists,  especially 
Scott.  But  some  of  these  can  be  explained,  (i)  by  the  poet's 
ballad-technique,  exhibited  in  several  novels,  (2)  by  a  voluntary 
looseness  of  structure  in  his  novels,  (3)  by  stylistic  features 
employed  by  Fontane  in  his  Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark 
Brandenburg. 

As  we  have  seen,  in  the  form  of  his  novels,  a  point  on  which 
the  eminent  stylist  placed  most  emphasis,  Fontane  is  prac- 
tically independent  of  Scott.  It  is  in  the  content  of  his  fiction 
that  he  owes  a  debt  to  the  British  author.  Limited  as  this 
debt  is,  it  is  nevertheless  interesting  and  significant  that  the 


CONCLUSION  77 

appeal  of  the  great  Scotchman  should  reach  and  affect  the 
German  writer  across  barriers  of  nationality,  of  temperament, 
of  training  and  of  literary  ideals. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  list  contains  only  the  titles  of  books  which 
were  of  direct  use  to  the  writer.  Works  of  a  general  nature 
consulted  have  in  the  main  been  excluded  from  this  bibli- 
ography. This  applies  particularly  to  periodical  articles, 
such  as  appeared  in  large  number  in  1919  and  1920  after 
the  centennial  of  Fontane's  birth. 

Works  of  Fontane  Employed 
Gesammelte  Werke  von  Theodor  Fontane. 

Erste  Serie:  Romane  und  Novellen,  10  Bde. 

Zweite    Serie:     Gedichte,    Autobiographisches,    Briefe, 

Kritiken,  Nachlass,  11  Bde.     Berlin,  no  date  (copyright 

dates  vary  from  1905  to  1912).^ 
Wanderungen  durch  die  Mark  Brandenburg,  4  Bde. 

Vol.  I,  Die  Grafschaft  Ruppin,  12.  u.  13.    Ausg.,  1909. 

Vol.  II,  Das  Oderland,  11.  u.  12.    Ausg.,  1910. 

Vol.  Ill,  Havelland,  11.  u.  12.    Ausg.,  1910. 

Vol.  IV,  Spreeland,  9.  u.  10.     Ausg.,  1910. 
Fiinf  Schlosser.     (A  continuation  of  the  Wanderungen)   3. 

Ausg.,  1 910. 
The  five  volumes  above  were  published  in  Stuttgart  and 

Berlin. 

Letters  not  Included  in  Fontane's  Collected  Works, 
Also    Posthumous    Letters,    Diaries    and    Works. 

Das  Fontane-Buch.    Beitrage  zu  seiner  Characteristik. 

Unveroffentlichtes  aus  seinem  Nachlass.    Das  Tagebuch 

*  In  referring  to  Fontane's  collected  works  the  following  abbreviations  will  be 
used  in  the  foot-notes:  "W"  =  Werke.  i  or  2  =  series  of  Werke;  Roman  numer- 
als =  volume  of  series. 

78 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  79 

aus  seinen  letzten  Lebensjahren.    Hrsg.  von  Ernst  Heil- 

born.    Berlin,  1919. 
Ein  englisches  Tagebuch  Theodor  Fontanes  aus  dem  Jahre  1852. 

Neue  Rundschau,  Berlin.  Vol.  XXV.  Heft  10.   (1914)  Ss. 

1385-1408. 
Lepel,  Bernhard  von:    Bernhard  von  Lepel  an  Theodor  Fon- 

tane.     Brief e  von   1 843-1 883.     Hrsg.  von  Eva  A.  von 

Arnim.    Berlin,  19 10. 
Theodor  Fontane.     Briefe  und  Tagebuch.     Neue  Rundschau, 

Berlin,  1919,  Ss.  1427-1450. 
Theodor  Fontanes  Briefwechsel  mit  Wilhelm  Wolfsohn.    Hrsg, 

von  Wilhelm  Wolters.     Berlin,  19 10. 
Theodor  Fontanes  engere  Welt.    Aus  dem  Nachlass  hrsg.  von 

Dr.  Mario  Krammer.    Berlin,  1920. 
Wichmann,    H.:      Frohes    und   Ernstes   aus   meinem   Leben. 

Leipzig,   1898.     (The  appendix,  pp.   16-41,  contains  a 

number  of  letters  from  Fontane.) 

Works  and  Studies  of  Scott 

Minstrelsy  of  the  Scottish  Border.     Walter  Scott.     3  Vols. 

Edinburgh,  1803. 
Miscellaneous   Prose    Works   of  Sir    Walter   Scott.     3   Vols. 

Edinburgh,  1852. 
Poetical  Works  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Bart.    10  Vols,  in  5;  edited 

by  Andrew  Lang.    London  and  Edinburgh,  1895. 
Waverley  Novels,  24  Vols.    Edition  de  Luxe.    John  D.  Morris 

and  Co.,  Philadelphia,  no  date. 
Gaebel,   Kurt:    Beitrdge  zur   Technik  der  Erzdhlung  in  den 

Romanen   Walter  Scotts.     Marburger  Studien  zur  engli- 

schen  Philologie.    Heft  2,  1901. 
Lockhart,  John  Gibson :   The  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Sir  Walter 

Scott.    5  Vols.     Boston  and  New  York,  1902. 


80  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

Mackenzie,  R.  Shelton:    Sir  Walter  Scott.     The  Story  of  his 

Life.    Boston,  1871. 
Schmidt,  Julian:   Bilder  aus  dent  geistigen  Leben  unserer  ZeiL 

Vol.  I  (containing  essay  on  Scott).    Leipzig,  1870. 

General  Studies  of  Fontane 

Ettlinger,  Josef:    Theodor  Fontane.    Ein  Essai.    Vol.  XVIII 

of  Die  Literatur,  hrsg.  von  Georg  Brandes.     Berlin,  no 

date. 
Hayens,    Kenneth:     Theodor    Fontane.      London,    no    date; 

copyright  1920. 
Maync,   Harry:    Theodor   Fontane  i8ig-igiQ.     Leipzig  and 

Berlin,  1920. 
Roethe,    Gustav:      "Zum    Gedachtnis    Theodor    Fontanes." 

Deutsche  Rundschau.    Jan.  1920. 
Servaes,  Franz:    Theodor  Fontane.    Vol.  XXIV  of  Die  Dicht- 

ung,  hrsg.  von  Paul  Remer.    Berlin  and  Leipzig,  1904. 
Stern,  Adolf:   Studien  zur  Literatur  der  Gegenwart.    2.  Ausg., 

Dresden  and  Leipzig,  1908. 
Von    Szczepanski,    Paul:     Theodor    Fontane ^    ein    deutscher 

Lyriker.    Vol.  XIII  of  Deutsche  Lyriker  in  Hesses  Volks- 

biicherei.    Leipzig,  no  date. 
Wandrey,  Conrad:    Theodor  Fontane.     Miinchen,  1919. 
Zillmann,  Friedrich:    Theodor  Fontane  als  Dichter.     Er  und 

iiher  ihn.    Stuttgart  and  Berlin,  191 8. 

Special  Critical  Studies  of  Fontane 

Conrad,    Hermann:     "Theodor    Fontanes    Hamlet."       Das 

literarische  Echo.    Oct.  i,  1899. 
Croner,  Else:    Fontanes  Frauengestalten.     Berlin,   1906. 
Eberlein,   Kurt  Karl:    "Der  junge  Fontane.      Unbekanntes 

und  Ungedrucktes  aus  seiner  Dresdener  Apothekerzeit." 

Preussische  Jahrbiicher,    July,  1920. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  8 1 

Kricker,   Gottfried:    Theodor  Fontane,    Von  seiner  Art  und 

epischen  Technik.    Berlin,  1912. 
Pniower,   Otto:     "Dichtungen   und   Dichter."     Essays   und 

Studien.    Berlin,  1912. 
Schonemann,  Friedrich:    "Theodor  Fontane  und  England." 

Publications  Modern  Language  Association.    Vol.  XXX, 

p.  658  (1915). 
Thayer,  Harvey  W. :    Crete  Minde,  nach  einer  altmdrkischen 

Chronik  von  Theodor  Fontane,     New  York,  191 1. 
Tielo,  A.   R.  T.:    "Theodor  Fontanes  erste  lyrische  Dicht- 
ungen."   AUgemeine  Zeitung.     Beilage.     June  7,  1899. 
Trebein,  Bertha  E. :  Theodor  Fontane  as  a  Critic  of  the  Drama. 

New  York,  191 6. 
Wegmann,   Carl:    Theodor  Fontane  als   Ubersetzer  englischer 

und  schottischer  Balladen.    Munster  in  Westfalen,  1910. 
Wenger,  Erich:    Theodor  Fontane^  Sprache  und  Stil  in  seinen 

modernen  Romanen.    Greifswald,  1913. 
Wissmann,  Paul:     Theodor  Fontane.      Seine  episch-lyrischen 

Dichtungen.    Essen,  1916. 

Works  of  a  General  and  Miscellaneous  Character 

Alexis,  Wilibald  (Haring,  W.) :  Die  Hosen  des  Herrn  Bredow, 

Ruhe  ist  die  erste  Biirgerpflicht  and  Isegrimm, — ^Vols.  Ill, 

VII  and  VIII,  respectively,  of   Vaterldndische  Romane 

(8  Bde.)  5  Ausg.,  Berlin,  no  date. 
Bartels,  Adolf:    Ceschichte  der  deutschen  Liter atur.     2   Bde. 

2.  Ausg.,  Leipzig,  1902. 
Biese,  Alfred:    Deutsche  Literaturgeschichte.     Bd.   III.     Von 

Hebbel  bis  zur  Gegenwart.    1-3.  Ausg.    Miinchen,  1911. 
Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature.     Edited  by  A.  W. 

Ward  and  A.   R.   Weller.     14  Vols.     New  York  and 

London,  1907. 


82  WALTER  SCOTT  AND  THEODOR  FONTANE 

Der  Tunnel  uher  der  Spree.  I.  Kinder-  und  Flegeljahre.  1827- 
1840.  hrsg.  von  Dr.  Fritz  Behrend.  Heft  51  der  Schrif- 
ten  des  Vereins  fiir  die  Geschichte  Berlins.     Berlin,  1919. 

Keiter,  Heinrich  and  Kellen,  Tony:  Der  Roman.  Essen- 
Ruhr.     4.  Ausg.,   1 91 2. 

Klatt,  Ernst:  "Von  Scott  uber  Fontane  zu  Molo.  Ein 
Beitrag  zur  Stil-  und  Stoffgeschichte  des  deutschen 
Romans."     Das  literarische  Echo.     Feb.   i,  1921. 

Korff,  Hermann  A.:  Scott  und  Alexis.  Ein  Studie  zur  Technik 
des  historischen  Romans.    Heidelberg,  1907. 

Kummer,  Friedrich:  Deutsche  Literatur geschichte  des  ig. 
Jahrhunderts.    Dresden,  1909. 

Liibke,  Wilhelm:  Lebenserinnerungen.    Berlin,  1891. 

Meyer,  Richard  M.:  Die  deutsche  Literatur  des  19.  und  20, 
Jahrhunderts.  Bd.  H  of  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Lite- 
ratur.   2  Bde.     Berlin,  1920  and  1921. 

Mielke,  Hellmuth :  Der  deutsche  Roman.  4.  Ausg.,  Dresden,  1912. 

Price,    Lawrence    Marsden:     English-German    Literary    In- 
fluences.     Part    I.      Bibliography.      Part    II.      Survey. 
Univ.   of  California  Publications  in   Modern   Philology. 
Vol.  IX.    Berkeley,  19 19. 

Reliques  of  the  Ancient  English  Poetry.  Bishop  Thomas 
Percy.     3  Vols.  .  London  and  Dublin,  1858. 

Schmidt,  Julian:  "Wilibald  Alexis"  in  Neue  Bilder  aus  dem 
geistigen  Leben  unserer  Zeit.    Vol.  III.     Leipzig,  1870. 

The  Poetry  of  Robert  Burns.  Edited  by  William  Ernest 
Henly  and  Thomas  F.  Henderson.  4  Vols.  Boston  and 
New  York,  1897. 

Tschirch,  Otto:  "Wilibald  Alexis  als  vaterlandischer  Dichter 
und  Patriot."  Forschungen  zur  Brandenburgischen  und 
Preussischen  Geschichte.     Bd.  XII,  1899.    S.  185  ff. 

Wenger,  Karl:  Historische  Romane  deutscher  Romantiker, 
Bern,  1905. 


VITA 

The  writer  of  this  monograph  was  born  in  New  York  City, 
February  23,  1890,  as  the  eldest  child  of  George  Peaslee  and 
Susan  Hobbes  (Moore)  Shears.  In  1912  he  received  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  from  Columbia  University,  New 
York,  and  two  years  later  he  became  a  Master  of  Arts  at 
the  same  institution.  In  1915-16  he  was  University  Scholar 
in  Germanic  Languages  and  Literatures  and  also  Alternate 
Carl  Schurz  Fellow  at  Columbia.  In  191 6-17  he  was  In- 
structor in  German  in  the  Extension  Teaching  Department 
of  Columbia  and  in  the  spring  of  191 7  Instructor  in  French, 
German  and  English  at  Summit  Academy,  Summit,  N.  J. 
From  the  fall  of  1917  until  February,  1919,  he  held  the  position 
of  Government  Censor  in  New  York  City.  During  the  second 
half  of  the  following  school  year  he  taught  French  and  Spanish 
at  the  Marquand  School,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and  German  in 
the  Extension  Department  at  Columbia.  This  position  at 
his  Alma  Mater  he  held  again  the  succeeding  university  year. 
At  the  present  time  he  is  Instructor  in  German  in  Wesleyan 
University. 


83 


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